The Parable of the Wedding Feast
1. And Jesus answering, again said to them in parables, saying,
2. The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man, a king, who made a wedding for his son,
3. And sent forth his servants to call those that were called to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
4. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, “Say to those that were called, ‘Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings [are] slaughtered, and all things [are] prepared; come to the wedding.’
5. But they, neglecting [it], went away, indeed one to his own field, and the other to his merchandise;
6. And the rest, taking hold of his servants, insulted [them], and killed [them.
7. And when the king heard, he was angry; and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8. Then he says to his servants, ‘The wedding is indeed prepared, but they who were invited were not worthy.
9. Go ye therefore into the exits of the ways, and whomever, as many as you find, call to the wedding.’
10. And those servants going out into the roads, gathered together all, as many as they found, both wicked and good; and the wedding was filled with guests.
11. And the king coming in to observe the guests, saw there a man who had not put on a wedding garment;
12. And he says to him, ‘Fellow, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’ And he was silenced.
13. Then said the king to the ministers, ‘Having bound him feet and hands, take him up, and cast [him] out into the outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14. For many are called, but few chosen.
In the parable about the two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard, Jesus was describing the difference between two kinds of people. One son said that he would work, but he did not. The other son said that he would not work, but later changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard.
Similarly, some people promise to serve God and may even make an outward profession of doing so, but in their hearts, they are far from God. Many of the religious leaders of that time fell into this category. On the other hand, there is another category of people who do not at first have any interest in serving God, but after seeing the error of their ways, they repent. These are represented by the prostitutes and tax collectors who decide to turn their lives around and make a new beginning. As Jesus says to the religious leaders, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31).
Jesus then went on to tell another parable, this time about a landowner who hired vinedressers to care for his vineyard. But when the time came for the owner of the vineyard to receive the fruits of the land, the vinedressers refused. Instead, they beat and killed the servants who had been sent to receive the fruits, including the landowner’s son.
Taken together, both parables are given to describe the state of religion at that time. Although the religious leaders had clothed themselves in the outward garments of religion, their inner lives were filled with vanity, deceit, and greed. In the language of sacred scripture, they had offered God “no fruit.” For over eight hundred years God had sent prophets to them, imploring them to change their ways, but they would not.
Instead, they responded by abusing and murdering the prophets. As a result, God Himself came to earth to establish a new religious system led by those who would humbly live their religion, glorifying God rather than themselves. As Jesus said to the religious leaders at the end of the parable about the wicked vinedressers, “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matthew 21:43).
When the religious leaders realized that these parables were about them, they were furious and wanted to seize Jesus, but they did nothing because they were afraid of the people who considered Jesus to be a prophet. Therefore, they remained silent. Meanwhile, Jesus continued speak in parables. He had just told them that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to a nation bearing the fruits of that kingdom. In this next parable, Jesus explains how this transfer from arrogant self-righteousness to a humble willingness to be led by the Lord takes place.
The invitation to the wedding
The third parable in this series begins with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a wedding banquet for his son” (Matthew 22:2). The arrangements begin with the king sending out his servants to summon all those who have already been invited to the wedding. And yet, “They were not willing to come” (Matthew 22:3).
When the invited guests decline the king’s invitation, the king sends out a second group of servants to repeat the invitation. This time, the invitation is even stronger. As it is written, the king sent out other servants, saying, “Tell those who have been invited, ‘Look, the king has already prepared the dinner. The oxen and the fatted calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet’” (see Matthew 22:4). Once again, the invited guests are not willing to come. And so, once again, the king’s invitation is declined.
On a more interior level, these “servants” who come with an invitation from the king represent the truths of scripture. Every truth is another invitation to come to the banquet, to enter into a marriage covenant with the Lord. Sadly, these truths are often ignored or disregarded. Whenever this happens, it represents our unwillingness to come to the wedding banquet. 1
On the other hand, to accept the wedding invitation is to receive truth from the Lord's Word and desire to put it into our lives. Whenever we do this, we prepare ourselves for the marriage of good and truth within us. This “wedding” takes place when the truth we receive longs to find expression in loving action. And the “marriage” takes place when goodness and truth come together within us in some form of useful service. 2
In the sacred symbolism of the parable, this “heavenly marriage” is compared to a joyous wedding feast to which all are invited. The “king” who has arranged the feast is the Lord. And the “invited guests” who are not willing to attend the wedding are each of us whenever we reject the truth that God is offering in the moment.
And yet, even when we reject God, God never rejects us. This is represented by the second group of servants who are sent out. These are different truths, and sometimes even the same truths expressed in different ways — again offering an invitation to the wedding. At the second invitation, even though greater incentives are mentioned, the invited guests continue to turn down the king’s generous offer.
It should be kept in mind that this parable is about an invitation to a wedding — not the wedding itself. But just as a menu is not a meal, an invitation to a wedding is not the wedding. In order to enter into a holy union with the Lord, and enjoy the delights of that union, we must first prepare ourselves. This means that we must first of all accept the invitation. That is, we must learn the truths of the Lord’s Word. Only then will we be properly prepared to attend the wedding.
In this parable, the invited guests refuse to accept the king’s invitation to the wedding. They do this in spite of the king’s earnest and repeated urging, and in spite of his promise of great delights, signified by the great feast with oxen and fatted calves. Instead, “they made light of it and went their own ways, one to his own farm, another to his own business” (Matthew 22:5).
In the spiritual sense, this represents their preference for their own ideas about what is good and true, represented by “going their own ways.” Even worse, there were others who not only made light of the invitation but utterly despised and rejected it. As it is written, “And the rest seized his servants, insulted them, and killed them” (Matthew 22:6). In the spiritual sense, this represents those who not only go their own ways, but also utterly reject and endeavor to destroy what comes to them from God. 3
This is another version of the previous parable about the wicked vinedressers who not only killed the landowner’s servants but also murdered his son (see Matthew 21:33-40). At the conclusion of that parable Jesus asked them what they thought the landowner would do to the vinedressers. Without a moment’s hesitation, they replied, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably” (Matthew 21:41).
It is important to remember that Jesus is telling these parables to the religious leaders — the very ones who want to seize Him but are afraid to do so. Jesus is not only reading their minds but understanding the desires of their hearts. This becomes clear as Jesus continues the parable of the wedding feast.
After describing how the invitations were continually declined, Jesus ends by incorporating the religious leaders’ idea of a just penalty. Jesus says that when the king heard that his invitations were scorned and his messengers were killed, “he was furious. So, the king sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7).
This appears to be a solemn warning to the religious leaders about what God will do to them if they continue to deny God’s invitation to the wedding. Jesus, of course, is speaking in language that they can understand, according to the state of their minds and hearts. The reality is that God is mercy itself, destroys no one, is never angry, and is never vengeful. The language of the literal sense not only reflects the point of view of the religious leaders but also expresses the self-destruction that results from stubbornly rejecting the goodness and mercy that the Lord invites everyone to receive. 4
On the other hand, these words are not just a solemn warning. They also contain an uplifting message for all who accept the Lord’s invitation. It is a promise that the truth which flows in from the Lord’s goodness, called “the armies of the king,” has the power to destroy every murderous tendency in ourselves and burn to ashes every false belief that has led us astray. Spiritually, this is what can happen within us whenever “the king sends out his army to destroy the murderers and burn up the city.” 5
A perpetual invitation
The Lord never ceases to invite us into His kingdom. In this regard His invitation is perpetual, going out to all people at all times. We read, therefore, that the king said to his servants, “Go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So, the servants went out and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests” (Matthew 22:9-10).
This pictures the Lord’s open invitation to the whole world to enter His kingdom. This is a clear teaching — from the literal sense of the Word — that the Lord does not choose some and reject others. As it is written in the Hebrew scriptures, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercy is over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). 6
When the guests arrive, the king notices that one of the guests is not wearing a proper wedding garment. Therefore, the king asks him, “How did you get in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12). The man cannot answer. We read, “He was silenced” (Matthew 22:12).
This man, who comes to the wedding without a proper garment, represents our tendency to go through the motions of being spiritual, while internally we are merely natural. All too often, the spoken confession does not match the inner reality of people’s lives. The Lord requires that we be willing to follow Him in faith, in heart, and in life. To do so is to be properly clothed for the great wedding.
In the most general sense, the guest who shows up without an appropriate wedding garment represents hypocrites who clothe themselves in exterior “robes of righteousness,” while their interior thoughts and feelings are filled with selfishness and greed. They can appear to be moral, upstanding citizens who live righteous lives. No one may notice that their self-serving motives might include the selfish desire to obtain the good favor of others, the selfish desire to advance their reputation, or the selfish desire to gain material rewards.
While such persons may get by with a façade of morality in this life, it will not help them in the next life. That’s because in the next life we are no longer able to disguise our interior motives. In that world, every thought and intention is made plain. While this is a blessing for those who intend nothing but good, it becomes a serious problem for those who feign goodness. This is what happens to all hypocrites who can no longer withstand the bright light of truth or the burning heat of love. We read, therefore, that the king says to his servants, “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). 7
The king who pronounces this decree, it should be remembered, is the Lord — the God of infinite love and mercy. It is therefore unthinkable that He would cast anyone into hell. It is also true, however, that we can cast ourselves into hell by rejecting His offer to come to the wedding — that is, if we refuse to receive His truths and live by them. All of this is contained in the symbolism of being bound “hand and foot,” being cast into the “outer darkness,” along with “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
If everything we do in this life is for ourselves, if we do not lift a finger or walk a step for others, our state in the next life will be represented by being bound, “hand and foot.” And if we choose to reject the light of truth that the Lord offers to each of us, our state in the next life will be represented by being “cast into the outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The phrase “gnashing of teeth” refers to the bitter arguments that arise when people base their reasonings on the unreliable evidence of the senses rather than the revealed Word of God. These people are truly clashing in the darkness. 8
As Jesus concludes this parable, He once again repeats the words, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14; see also Matthew 20:16). In the context of this series of parables, Jesus is referring to all who are called to the heavenly marriage — the marriage that takes place within each of us when we sincerely live by the truth that we know, doing this for no other reason than because we love God and want to do His will. When we do this, God is seen as the spiritual Bridegroom, and each of us as His spiritual bride. 9
A practical application
Jesus has been telling the religious leaders that they were given a generous invitation to come to the wedding, but they rejected the call. Not only did they reject the invitation, and make light of it, but they murdered every messenger that had ever been sent to them, just as they were now plotting to destroy Jesus. There is, however, a deeper message within this parable. Each of us does something similar whenever we reject the truth and goodness that the Lord continually offers through His Word. As a practical application, then, consider the various ways the Lord is calling you to the wedding. For example, during an argument, you might feel inclined to react from your lower nature where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” When you notice this, even in its earliest uprising, regard this sudden feeling as an invitation to turn to the Lord for strength and direction. Each time you turn to the Lord, you will be accepting His invitation to come to the wedding banquet. Be quick to accept the offer. As He says in this parable, “Come to the wedding” (Matthew 22:4).
The Pharisees Set a Trap
15. Then the Pharisees going, took counsel together how they might ensnare Him in [His own] word.
16. And they send out to Him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for anyone; for Thou lookest not to the face of men.
17. Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it permitted to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”
18. But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, “Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites?
19. Show Me the tribute money. And they brought to Him a denarius.”
20. And He says to them, “Whose [is] this image and inscription?”
21. They say to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He says to them, “Render therefore the [things] of Caesar unto Caesar, and the [things] of God unto God.”
22. And when they heard, they marveled, and leaving Him went away.
Among the many evils, religious hypocrisy is one of the most deadly because it uses religion to achieve its worldly ambitions. In the case of the religious leaders at that time, hypocrisy was widespread. Many of them used the sacred things of religion to promote their own significance, secure material comforts, and gain power over the people. Although their words and actions were seemingly pious and devout, their inner motives were self-serving and corrupt. 10
In the parable about the king who sent out invitations to his son’s wedding, Jesus addressed this issue. As we mentioned, the king represents God, the servants who brought the wedding invitations represent truths from the Lord’s Word, and the marriage itself represents union with God through living according to the truth. The man who was cast out because he was not wearing a proper wedding garment represents the hypocrisy of those who pretend to be religious without the willingness to be led by the Lord. As a result, they cast themselves into a hellish darkness where there is weeping, bitter argumentation, and strife.
The improper wedding garment, then, is hypocrisy. In the case of the religious leaders, they paid lip service to the commandments while making their own traditions more important than the commandments of God (see Matthew 15:6). Even worse, they set themselves up in place of God — something that each of us can do whenever we slip into the tendency to control others, insisting that they conform to our wishes and do “our will.” 11
One way to make sure that we maintain control over others is to defeat them in clever arguments, insisting that our view of the situation is the only correct one. This is especially true of those who cannot bear to be wrong. When anyone dares to contradict them, their ego feels threatened, resents the contradiction, and comes up with rationalizations, justifications, analogies, and clever arguments in order to make its point and maintain control. In the language of sacred scripture, this kind of argumentation and strife, especially when it tries to tear apart the views of others, is called “gnashing of teeth.” 12
In this next episode, this is precisely what happens when the religious leaders try to ensnare Jesus in an intellectual debate. We read, “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk” (22.15). Intent on maintaining their control over the people, the religious leaders seek to find some way they can trap Jesus in a trick question. So, they send a delegation to Him with the hypocritical words, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth” (Matthew 22:15). While their words sound deferential and courteous, Jesus knows what is in their hearts. As they continue their insincere praise, they ask a question that is designed to trap Him. “Teacher,” they say, “Tell us what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17).
Jesus is not fooled. He says to them, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?” Jesus knows that their seemingly innocent question is designed to trap Him. If He says “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” He will incur the disfavor of the Jewish people who are already outraged by having to pay taxes to the government of a heathen nation.
On the other hand, if Jesus says, “No, it is not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” He will incur the wrath of the Romans who demand their tribute money. Jesus knows that when word gets back to the Romans, they will see Him as an enemy of the state, regard Him as the potential leader of an insurrection, and arrest Him immediately. Either way, the question is meant as a trap either to discredit Jesus with the people, or to get Him arrested by the Roman soldiers.
But Jesus, seeing through their trickery and into their hearts, says, “Why do you tempt Me, you hypocrites?” (Matthew 22:18). Jesus then says, “Show me the coin used for the tax” (Matthew 22:19). When they show Jesus a Roman coin, called a “denarius,” Jesus says, “Whose head is this [on the coin] and whose inscription is on it?” (Matthew 22:20). And they answer Him, saying, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then says, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are of Caesar, and to God the things that are of God” (Matthew 22:21). With these words, Jesus not only avoids their clever trap, but He teaches an immortal lesson about how to live in the world, while not being of the world.
Jesus’ response to this question about paying taxes brings to mind a similar situation when He was asked about paying the temple tax. At that time, He told Peter to look for a coin in the mouth of a fish, and to use it to pay the temple tax. Although Jesus vehemently disagreed with what was going on in the temple, He still agreed to pay the religious tax (see Matthew 17:24-27).
Similarly, though Jesus may disagree with what the Roman government is doing, He agrees to pay the Roman tax. In both cases, Jesus demonstrates a willingness to support the existing ecclesiastical and civil governments, even while endeavoring to bring a new spirit to them. He knows that religious and governmental institutions are necessary for the preservation of order in society. 13
The religious leaders had fully expected that their trick question would trap Jesus into incurring either the disfavor of the Jewish people or the wrath of the Roman government. But they had underestimated Jesus. Astonished by Jesus’ response, the religious leaders are silenced once again. As it is written, “When they heard this, they were amazed. And leaving Him, they went away” (Matthew 22:22).
A practical application
The Pharisees, who feared and resented Jesus’ rising influence among the people, came up with a clever question about paying taxes. Their trap was designed to discredit Jesus who was revealing their hypocrisy. There are times when we, too, strive to defend our attitudes and behaviors rather than accept the truth about ourselves. For example, if some truth from the Word shows us how we are being self-centered, inconsiderate, irresponsible, dishonest, or hypocritical, we can be quick to deny, justify, or defend ourselves. As a practical application, then, be aware of those times when a strong desire to justify and defend a negative state takes precedence over the desire to see the truth about yourself, especially when reading the Word. Scripture is designed to show you the truth about yourself so that you can grow spiritually. This is how you can render unto God the things that are of God.
The Sadducees Set a Trap
23. In that day the Sadducees came to Him, who say that there is no resurrection, and asked Him,
24. Saying, “Teacher, Moses said, If anyone die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and shall raise up seed to his brother.
25. And there were with us seven brothers; and the first, having wed, died, and not having seed, left his wife to his brother;
26. Likewise also the second, and the third, unto the seventh.
27. And last of all the woman died also.
28. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her.”
29. And Jesus answering said to them, “You do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
30. For in the resurrection they neither wed, nor are given to be wed, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31. And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was declared to you by God, saying,
32. ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
33. And the crowds hearing, wondered at His teaching.
34. And the Pharisees, hearing that He had made the Sadducees speechless, were gathered together for this same [thing.
The Pharisees tried and failed to trap Jesus in a trick question. But the challenges are not over. Immediately following the challenge of the Pharisees, another group of religious leaders confront Jesus and try to trap Him with a different question. This time the challenge comes from the Sadducees, a group of religious leaders who firmly believe that there is no such thing as life after death, no such thing as the immortality of the soul, no such thing as angels, and no such thing as resurrection. According to the Sadducees, when the body dies, life ends.
Therefore, as this next episode begins, the Sadducees come to Jesus with a question that challenges Jesus’ teachings about life after death. “Teacher,” they ask, “Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother” (Matthew 22:24). The Sadducees are referring to the following law from the Hebrew scriptures: “If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not marry a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her in marriage” (Deuteronomy 25:5).
This law was given as a means of protecting the family estate. In this way the name and the inheritance of the dead brother would be preserved, and the dead brother’s possessions would remain within the family.
This is the law that the Sadducees have in mind as they offer the following test case to Jesus. They say, “Now there were seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. And last of all the woman died also.” Then comes their key question: “Therefore in the resurrection,” they ask, “whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her” (Matthew 22:24-28).
The Sadducees are obviously trying to disprove that there is such a thing as a resurrection after death. Their example is given to show how ridiculous the whole idea of an afterlife is. For them, when you are dead, you are dead. There is neither life after death, nor marriage in heaven.
Now Jesus could have answered their question and ended the discussion by simply saying, “Her first husband” or “Her last husband” or “All of them” or “The one she loved the most.” But, as usual, Jesus takes advantage of the opportunity to teach a vital lesson about life after death, and the life that leads to heaven. Therefore, He says, “You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).
In answering the Sadducees in this way, Jesus asserts, first of all, that there definitely is a resurrection after death, and, secondly, that there really are angels — two premises the Sadducees flatly deny. We have already seen, on numerous occasions, that Jesus speaks in accommodation to the state of His listeners, and that His words are parables containing infinite depths of meaning. These words, which are spoken to the Sadducees, are no exception. In saying that resurrected beings “neither marry nor are given in marriage,” Jesus is referring to the lustful co-habitations called “marriage” that were practiced at that time. There are no such marriages in heaven.
In fact, the very language of the Sadducees reveals how coarse and crude their idea of marriage is. For example, they say, “they all had her.” Nothing is said about “love,” “devotion,” “loyalty,” “respect,” or “inmost friendship.” This is because the Sadducees are speaking of a merely physical relationship without any lasting spiritual connection. A merely physical relationship, one that is based on bodily needs and desires, will die when the body dies. In other words, marriage, as the Sadducees understand it, does not continue after death.
However, when marriage is seen as a spiritual union between a husband and wife who trust in God and tenderly love each other, it can endure forever. This is because God does not separate what He has joined together (see Matthew 19:6). This is a great promise for all who love their spouses and hope to stay married forever. And it is encouraging to know that in the spiritual sense of the Word this is exactly what is taught. For, in heaven, a married couple who have become deeply united in spirit are seen as an angelic pair, or simply, “one angel.” This, then, is why Jesus could say, most truly, “they are like the angels of God in heaven.” 14
In the episode which immediately preceded the trick questions posed by the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a wedding to which all are invited. This wedding represents the heartfelt desire to apply the Lord’s truth to our lives. As we do so, we enter the heavenly marriage, a marriage in which God’s will becomes increasingly our own. This, indeed, is the purpose of our life on earth — to accept God’s invitation to enter the heavenly marriage with Him, now, in this lifetime. This is the marriage that can only take place here and now, not after death. 15
God of the living
As Jesus concludes His message to the Sadducees, He adds one more thought, He says, “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32).
To people who are merely natural, and focused only on this world, the idea of the immortality of the soul appears foolish. Like the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, they might regard it as something for children and simple-minded people, a convenient fairy tale to keep them in order, but not something for the educated and mature. In brief, they regard the afterlife as a figment of human imagination, an example of wishful, but unrealistic thinking. Furthermore, the Sadducees, who regarded the first five books of Moses as their only authority, see nothing in those scriptures that explicitly teaches the doctrine of an afterlife.
We can only imagine their surprise, then, when Jesus takes them back to the scene at the burning bush when God speaks to Moses, saying, “I am the God of your father — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). People had taken this to mean that He was their God while these men were alive in the physical world — but not that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive in the world of eternity.
When the people heard Jesus’ new interpretation of this very familiar and sacred teaching, they were “astonished,” and the Sadducees were “speechless” (Matthew 22:33-34). Just as Jesus had silenced the Pharisees when they asked Him a trick question about civil matters (paying taxes), Jesus now silences the Sadducees when they ask Him a trick question about religious matters (the resurrection). So far, their attempts to trap Jesus in trick questions have failed. But their attempts to challenge Him will continue.
A practical application
Jesus’ words about life after death seem to imply that there are no marriages in heaven. But a deeper reading shows that Jesus is referring to the type of marriages that are merely physical unions devoid of any spiritual focus. These kinds of relationships do not continue in heaven. A truly spiritual union, however, does continue. Furthermore, the deepest form of marriage is the relationship we form with God in this life by receiving His truth and goodness and living according to it. It is vain to imagine that we will come into this marriage with God after death. It can only be achieved here on earth, during this lifetime. As a practical application, then, consider how vitally important it is to accept the Lord’s invitation to the heavenly marriage right now, even in this moment. When Jesus says, “there are no marriages in heaven,” He is referring to your marriage to the Lord. Don’t wait for heaven, expecting it to happen then. It can only happen here, now, during your life on earth. And if it is achieved on earth, it is also achieved in heaven. Nothing could be more practical. 16
A Lawyer Sets a Trap
35. And one of them, a lawyer, asked, tempting Him, and saying,
36. “Teacher, which [is] the great commandment in the law?”
37. And Jesus said to him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God in thy whole heart, and in thy whole soul, and in thy whole mind.
38. This is the first and great commandment.
39. And the second [is] like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
40. On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Unable to trap Jesus in either a civil or an ecclesiastical argument, one of the religious leaders, a lawyer, now challenges Him on the subject of the commandments. “Teacher,” he says, “which is the greatest commandment in the law?” (Matthew 22:36). This is another trick question. In pressuring Jesus to select one commandment as greatest, Jesus will be forced to diminish the importance of the others.
We do something similar in our daily lives. For example, one person might say, “I am a fair and honest worker. I do gossip, but that’s not so bad.” Another might say, “I keep the Sabbath every week. That makes up for the times I leave work early without reporting it.” Being honest is important, but not more important than avoiding the kind of gossip which can murder someone’s spirit. Similarly, keeping the Sabbath is important, but not more important than not stealing. All of the commandments are important; they are all great. God does not tell us to keep “the most important ones.” He tells us to keep them all.
In a previous episode, a young man raised a similar question — but in a different spirit. When he asked Jesus what good thing he should do to have eternal life, Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man’s reply was, “Which ones?” (Matthew 19:18). Understandably, if there were 613 commandments in the law (as many rabbis taught), this question was a legitimate one. But when a lawyer now asks a similar question, Jesus knows that it is a trap, designed to discredit Him.
Undeterred, Jesus, sees the lawyer’s question as yet another opportunity to teach an eternal lesson. Therefore, Jesus rises to the challenge and quotes first from the most revered teaching in the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus says to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment,” (Matthew 22:37-38; see Deuteronomy 6:5). Then, without a moment’s hesitation, Jesus links another passage of scripture to it. He says, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Leviticus 19:18).
Neither of these commandments is new or unfamiliar. In Jewish law, they were both central and deeply significant. But what is new is the way in which Jesus brings them both together as one. This is because Jesus knows that neither commandment can exist without the other — just as truth cannot exist without goodness, or goodness without truth. As Jesus says, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40).
As we look more deeply into the question regarding the “greatest” commandment, we might look again at our own tendency to emphasize certain commandments over others. For example, we might tend to make devotion to God so important that we neglect our duty to our neighbor. On the other hand, we may become so involved in good works, that we have little time to worship the Lord, to read His Word, or to pray. We might say, “It is more important to offer people a helping hand, than to sit with our hands folded in prayer.”
There are good arguments either way. But in making one law out of two, Jesus forever settled the question of “Which is the greatest commandment?” There are two great commandments, just as there are two tables of stone: one for the Lord and one for the neighbor. In other words, every one of the Ten Commandments is great, and every one of the commandments is necessary.
In speaking to both of these tendencies in human nature, devotion to God and service to the neighbor, Jesus teaches that our whole duty includes both love to God and love to the neighbor. He has already told the Pharisees to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Now, He demonstrates, in another way, how the two great callings of the human soul are not in conflict with each other. Rather, they make a perfect marriage. We cannot love God without loving the neighbor, nor can we love the neighbor without loving God. The two commandments are but two sides of the same coin.
With this answer, Jesus establishes once and for all that love to God is indeed the first and great commandment, and that it is inextricably connected with love towards the neighbor. Jesus has brought them together in a perfect union. It is yet another way of demonstrating the eternal truth that what God has joined together, no one should separate.
A practical application
In sacred scripture, the number “ten” represents what is complete, whole, and perfect, even as the human body is perfected by the ten fingers and the ten toes. The ten fingers give digital expression to the desires of our mind and heart. The ten toes provide balance and support while taking us where we need to go. Similarly, the Ten Commandments perfectly contain, perfectly support, and perfectly express the totality of wisdom concerning our civil, moral, and spiritual life. As a practical application, then, avoid any tendency to elevate some commandments over others. None of them can be ignored, excluded, or underestimated. Don’t fall into the lawyer’s trap of choosing which commandments you want to keep and which commandments you want to avoid. Learn them all and practice them. They all have a key role to play in your spiritual development.
Is Jesus the Son of David or David’s Lord?
41. And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42. Saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They say to Him, “David’s.”
43. He says to them, “How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying,
44. ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit Thou on My right hand, until I put Thine enemies [as] a footstool of Thy feet”?
45. If David then call Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”
46. And no one could answer Him a word, neither dared anyone from that day question Him anymore.
Up until this point, Jesus has been challenged with a series of questions, first about paying taxes, then about life after death, and finally about ranking the commandments. Each time, Jesus has not only answered their question but also used it as an opportunity to provide a deeper, more spiritual understanding of the issue.
Now Jesus asks a question. He says, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” The Pharisees answer by saying, “The son of David” (Matthew 22:41). Jesus then questions them further. Quoting from the psalms, He says, “How, then, does David in the Spirit call Him, ‘Lord,’ saying ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’?” (Matthew 22:43-44).
Jesus is referring to a psalm spoken by David who prophesied that the coming Messiah would “crush the rulers of the whole earth” (Psalm 110:6). The psalm begins with the words, “The Lord said to my Lord” which means that the invisible Lord of the universe (God) spoke to the visible Lord of the universe (Jesus), assuring Jesus that He would be given the power to crush His enemies. In other words, Jesus would make His enemies His “footstool.”
People understood this to mean that the Jewish people, under the leadership of the coming Messiah would defeat all their natural enemies and reign supreme. It was also customary in those days to speak of the coming Messiah as “the son of David” but not as “the Lord.” In the previous chapter, for example, the people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as the promised Messiah, shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David.” They did not shout, “Hosanna to David’s Lord.”
This is exactly the point that Jesus is making when He asks the question, “If David then calls Him, ‘Lord’” referring to the coming Messiah, “how is He David’s son?” (Matthew 22:45). The Pharisees cannot answer. In fact, we read that “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore” (Matthew 22:46).
For the moment, Jesus silences His inquisitors. David had indeed said, “The Lord said to my Lord,” (Psalm 110:1). All agreed that when David said this, he was referring to the coming of the Christ — or the Messiah who is clearly and unmistakably referred to as David’s Lord — not his son.
The literal words, “The Lord said to My Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand,’” refer to the invisible Father in heaven asking the visible Son on earth to sit at His right hand. This means that the divine love (the “Father”) will go forth through the divine truth (the “Son”) with omnipotent power (the “right hand”). The Father’s love, which comes to earth through the truth that Jesus teaches, will be so powerful that it will defeat every evil that could ever assail humanity. All this is contained in the words, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 17
In these brief words of sacred scripture, we see the fulfillment of the very first Messianic prophecy. It occurs in Genesis, just after the serpent has deceived Adam and Eve. There we read that God says to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed [the seed of the serpent] and her Seed [Jesus born of Mary]; and He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).
In David’s prophesy, he says that Christ’s enemies will become His “footstool.” It foretells the time when Jesus’ enemies will be subjugated — Jesus will have them “under His heel.” But the battle will not be easy. In metaphorically treading on the head of the serpent (subjugating evil), Jesus will indeed be bruised, just as it is written in the original prophecy: God says to the serpent, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” The bruising and wounding of Jesus refers not only to His physical suffering, but also to the way the Word of God can be mistreated and abused in order to support and justify evil desires. 18
This prophecy will come to dramatic fulfillment in the last few days of Jesus’ life on earth. The “serpent” that will attack Him with so much venom, however, will not be a literal one. Rather it will be a “brood of vipers” (see Matthew 12:34). This refers to the hells working through the proud, unrepentant, religious leaders who fear and hate Jesus’ rising influence with the multitudes. This is the “seed of the serpent.”
This also represents the proud and unrepentant places in ourselves that fear the rising influence of goodness and truth in our lives. But there are also places in our heart — warm and tender places — that can still hear the voice of truth. This is the voice that asks, so quietly, and yet with so much power, “If David then calls Him, ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”
This is the voice of Jesus, a voice that silences every intrusive thought and feeling that arises from our unregenerate will. Therefore, this episode concludes with the words, “No one could answer Him a word, neither dared anyone from that day question Him any longer” (Matthew 22:46).
They had tried three times to trap Jesus in their teeth gnashing debates but failed every time. Nor could they answer Jesus’ question about the son of David. Jesus has indeed silenced them. As it is written in the Hebrew scriptures, “Through the praise of children and infants You have established a stronghold against Your enemies. You have silenced the enemy and the avenger” (Psalm 8:2).
Jesus has also taken another step in the gradual revelation of His Divinity. If Jesus is the Messiah, He cannot be the son of David, for David called Him, “My Lord.” We have come a long way from the opening verse of this gospel, “The generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1). While Jesus’ genealogy places Him as the son of David, He is much more than that. He is also David’s Lord.
A practical application
Many people are afflicted by what are called “intrusive thoughts.” These are unwanted thoughts that bring up regrets about the past, cause anxiety about the future, and raise doubts about the presence of God. They trouble us with possible scenarios that could shake our faith and take away our determination to walk in the path of the Lord’s commandments. It becomes our task to shake off these intrusive thoughts and anxious feelings, but we often feel that it is impossible to silence them. This is when we need to remember that the Lord can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He can silence these intrusive thoughts just as He silenced the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the lawyer in the previous three episodes. As a practical application, then, whenever you notice intrusive thoughts arising, ask the Lord to silence them. You can cooperate by using the following passage of scripture (or a similar one) as a meditation: “O, Lord … in Your unfailing love, silence my enemies. Destroy these foes, for I am your servant” (Psalm 143:12).
Footnotes:
1. Apocalypse Revealed 3: “Because the genuine spiritual sense is abstracted from person, the term ‘servants’ signifies truths.” See also Apocalypse Explained 316:8: “In the Word, the term ‘servant’ is not a servant in the usual sense. Rather, the term ‘servant’ stands for whatever serves. And this is said of truth, because truth serves good for use.”
2. Heaven and Hell 371: “The conjunction of good and truth in heaven is called the heavenly marriage, and heaven is likened in the Word to a marriage, and is called a marriage; and the Lord is called the ‘Bridegroom’ and ‘Husband,’ and heaven and also the church are called the ‘bride’ and the ‘wife.’”
3. Divine Wisdom 11[2]: “In the spiritual sense, the commandment, “Thou shall not kill,” is that people must not deny God, thus the Lord. To deny Him is to kill and crucify Him within oneself. Also they must not destroy spiritual life in another, for thus they kill another person’s soul.”
4. Arcana Coelestia 2395: “It is frequently said in the Word that Jehovah ‘destroys.’ In the internal sense, however, it is meant that people destroy themselves…. [It is] evil itself that destroys a person; the Lord destroys no one.” See also True Christian Religion 358: “The Lord's invitation or calling is universal. So is the grace to accept it.”
5. Arcana Coelestia 4581:4: “In the Word, ‘burning the city’ stands for destroying and laying waste to those [evil spirits] who teach falsity.”
6. Arcana Coelestia 904:2: “The Lord is merciful to everyone, and loves everyone, and wills to make everyone happy to eternity.”
7. Apocalypse Explained 195: “He who had not on a wedding garment, signifies a hypocrite, who, by moral life, assumes the semblance of spiritual life, when yet it is merely natural.” See also Heaven and Hell 45: “In heaven no one can conceal his interiors by his expression, or feign, or in any way deceive and mislead by craft or hypocrisy. It sometimes happens that hypocrites insinuate themselves into heavenly societies … and to feign themselves angels of light. But they cannot stay there for long, for they begin to suffer anguish interiorly, to be tortured, to grow livid in the face and to become, as it were, lifeless. These changes result from opposition to the life that flows in and operates. Therefore, they quickly cast themselves down into the hell where their like are, and they no longer seek earnestly to ascend. These are such as are meant by the man who was found, among the invited and reclining guests, not clothed in a wedding garment, and was cast into outer darkness.”
8. Arcana Coelestia 4424:3: “In the Word, the phrase ‘gnashing of teeth’ refers to the collision of falsities with truths. They who are in mere natural things, and who are in these from the fallacies of the senses, and who believe nothing but what they see thereby, are said to be in the ‘gnashing of teeth,’ and also in the other life appear to themselves to be so when they draw conclusions from their fallacies concerning the truths of faith.”
9. Arcana Coelestia 4638: “Heaven is likened to a wedding feast by virtue of the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth [within an individual]; and the Lord is likened to the Bridegroom because these people are joined to Him.”
10. Arcana Coelestia 9013:1, 4: “Evils done with deceit are the worst, because deceit is like a poison which infects and destroys with infernal venom, for it goes through the whole mind even to its interiors. This is because he who is in deceit meditates evil, and feeds his understanding with it, and takes delight in it, and thus destroys everything therein that belongs to a person, that is, which belongs to faith and charity…. Deceit is called ‘hypocrisy’ when there is piety in the mouth, and impiety in the heart.”
11. True Christian Religion 61-62: “The love of ruling is such that as far as it is given a chance, it bursts forth until it even burns with the lust of ruling over all, and at length of wishing to be invoked and worshiped as God…. This worst of evils is meant by the head of the serpent, which is bruised by the Seed of the woman, and which wounds His heel.”
12. Heaven and Hell 575: “‘Gnashing of teeth’ is the continual dispute and combat of falsities with each other, consequently of those who are in falsities, joined with contempt of others, with enmity, mockery, ridicule, and blaspheming. These evils burst forth into lacerations of various kinds [dilaniationes varii generis], since people fight for their own falsity and call it ‘their truth.’ These disputes and combats are heard outside these hells like the gnashings of teeth.”
13. The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 312: “Order cannot be maintained in the world without persons in authority who ought to take notice of all things which happen according to order, and of all things which take place in opposition to order, and who ought to reward those who live according to order, and to punish those who live in opposition to order. Unless this is done, the human race must perish.”
14. Conjugial Love 50: “In heaven a couple are not called two, but one angel. This is what is meant by the Lord’s words, that they are no longer two, but one flesh.” See also Heaven and Hell 372: “The statement, ‘Let no one separate what God has joined together,’ means that good is not to be separated from truth.” See also Conjugial Love 216:4: “When married partners love each other tenderly, they think of eternity in regard to the marriage covenant, and not at all of its being terminated by death. Or if they do think about this, they grieve, until strengthened again with hope by the thought of its continuing in the life to come.”
15. Conjugial Love 41: “Spiritual marriage is meant by the Lord’s words, that after the resurrection they are not given in marriage…. Spiritual marriage is conjunction with the Lord, and this is achieved on earth. And when it has been achieved on earth, it has also been achieved in heaven. Therefore, in heaven the marriage does not take place again, nor are people given in marriage.”
16. Arcana Coelestia 10717: “All who have heaven within themselves during their life in the world come into heaven after death.” See also Heaven and Hell 319: “The heaven within us is our acknowledgment of the Divine and our being led by the Divine.” See also Arcana Coelestia 5847: “During the whole course of their time in the world, people are shaping the most refined substances of their inward parts, so that it can be said that they are forming their own soul, or their essential character.” See also Conjugial Love 524:3: “A person’s life cannot be changed after death, because it has been structured in accordance with one’s love and consequent works…. A change in the organic structure is possible only in the material body, and not at all possible in the spiritual body after the former has been cast off.”
17. Arcana Coelestia 8910: “The hand corresponds to the power that truth possesses, the right hand to the power of truth coming from good.”
18. Apocalypse Explained 768:2: “The phrase ‘seed of the serpent’ signifies all falsity from evil, and the ‘seed of the woman’ signifies all truth from good, and in the highest degree divine truth. Because all divine truth is from the Lord, and by means of it the Lord destroys falsity from, evil, it is said that ‘He shall trample on thy head.” The word, ‘He,’ refers to the Lord, and the word, ‘head,’ refers to all falsity from evil. That the sensual would still do injury to divine truth in its ultimates, which is the Word in the sense of the letter, is signified by ‘he shall wound the heel.’ Here, the ‘heel’ refers to the literal sense of the Word.” See also Arcana Coelestia 9942: “Whatever they did to the Lord represented the state of divine truth and divine good among them at that time; thus that they treated divine truths in the same way as they treated Him.”
