Matthew 22:45














What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? This is what may be called a Socratic dialogue. Our Lord asks questions, and leads his hearers on until they find themselves entangled, and discover how little they had thought about the things of which they had talked so glibly. The expression, "What think ye of Christ?" has been made the text of many general sermons on the claims and Person of Christ; and it has been variously urged that our opinions about Christ decide our religious standing. We try to keep strictly to the passage, and find points in following through the precise inquiry of our Lord.

I. WHOSE SON IS MESSIAH? Our Lord uses the term "Christ," or "Messiah," here in its general sense, and from the Pharisees' point of view. He is not directly speaking of himself, or affirming that he is Messiah. He speaks to these Pharisees, and virtually says to them, "You talk about Messiah, you expect the coming Messiah, you are very learned about the Messiah. Say then, 'Whose Son is he?'" Those Pharisees could not read the mind of Jesus as he could read their minds, and they did not suspect how he meant to puzzle them; so at once they answered, "The Son of David." "The Pharisees were ready at once with the traditional answer; but they had never asked themselves whether it conveyed the whole truth, whether it could be reconciled, and, if so, how, with the language of predictions that were confessedly Messianic." Show how fully our Lord met this prophetic necessity. His mother was, and his reputed father was, "of the house and lineage of David."

II. HOW CAN MESSIAH BE DAVID'S SON AND DAVID'S LORD? This was so exceedingly easy a question, that one wonders how anybody could have been baffled by it. But perhaps these Pharisees were not baffled. They saw the answer plainly enough, but they saw also what the answer involved. This explained it all - Messiah. was to be both "Son of David and Son of God. But Jesus claimed to be Messiah, and these Pharisees dare not let the people hear them admit that the Son of David" was also "Son of God." Those people had triumphantly brought Jesus into the temple as the "Son of David;" and if the Pharisees had ventured a reply to Jesus, they must have acknowledged his claim to be "Son of God." Our Lord was the Divine-human being - of David according to the flesh; of God according to the Spirit. God was the soul of his humanity. - R.T.

What think ye of Christ?
1. It recognizes in man a mighty power, the power to think.

2. It indicates that all right-thinking of Christ must have respect to Him as He is revealed in Holy Scriptures.

3. That to think of Christ is a personal and individual duty.

4. To think right of Christ is a matter of transcendent importance.

(J. Williams.)

The Book of God is not a book for the mentally indolent. An amount of mental digging is needful to discover much of the precious ore that lies hidden under the poetry, parables, proverbs, figures, symbols, and the "many things hard to be understood" in Holy Writ. "The telescope, we know," says Archbishop Whately, "brings within the sphere of our vision much that would be undiscoverable by the naked eye; but we must not the less employ our eyes in making use of it, and we must watch and calculate the motions, and reason on the appearances of the heavenly bodies which are visible only through the telescope, with the same care we employ in respect of those seen by the naked eye. And an analogous procedure is requisite if we would derive the intended benefit from the pages of inspiration, which were designed not to save us the trouble of inquiring and reflecting, but to enable us in some points to inquire and reflect to better purpose; not to supersede the use of reason, but to supply its dificiences."

(J. Williams.)

I. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? For the religion of the Bible extends to the very thoughts. Our conduct towards Him must always be regulated by our views.

II. WHAT ESTEEM HAVE YOU FOR HIM? He is esteemed by all most worthy of our regard: Abraham. What regard have you for His greatness?

III. WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO PART WITH FOR HIS SAKE? With your sins — the world — with learning — self-righteousness.

IV. WHAT Is IT THAT KEEPS YOU FROM HIM?

1. Is it ignorance?

2. Prejudice?

3. Insensibility?

V. WHAT WILT, YOU DO WITHOUT HIM?

1. In the conviction of conscience.

2. In prosperity.

3. In adversity.

4. In death.

5. In the great day of account.

(W. Jay.)

There is a difference between the railing of the bridge and the keystone. The one is indeed ornamental, but the other is essential to the structure. Take from man an eye, or a hand, or a foot, and you injure him; but take away the head, or heart, or lungs, and you demolish him. The doctrines concerning Christ are of supreme importance.

(W. Jay.)

This question is not an appeal to the faith of the Pharisees, but to their opinion.

I. I COMMEND THE QUESTION. You should think of Christ —

1. Because you cannot help yourself.

2. Because you cannot escape the consequences of the question.

3. As a man thinks of Christ so is he at the hour of his death.

II. KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IS NECESSARY BEFORE ANSWERING THIS QUESTION.

1. Who is He? "Whose Son is He?"

2. Why did Christ come?

3. Whither is Christ gone?

4. Wherefore will He return?

III. Now WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?

1. Not what will you think to-morrow, but what do you think?

2. Improve the thought.

3. Strengthen the thought.

4. Express the thought.

(C. Molyneux, B. A.)

On my own part, and on the part of those among us who are desirous to have expressed in a compendious form the primary grounds of that belief which makes them not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, I shall give (beginning for the most part in modern and non-theological language) an answer to that question of questions for every age, "What think ye of Christ?" That answer will land us at last on the highest summit of theological speculation.

I. "What think ye of Christ?" THAT HE IS EXCEPTIONAL IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.

1. The holiest men are ever most conscious of their own sinfulness. Sublime dissatisfaction with self is the peculiarity of the Christian saint.

2. Jesus is the solitary exception to this rule. Besides the testimony both of enemies and of friends to the fact of His perfect innocence and sinlessness, we have His own witness. No utterance of conscious sin, no half-hid confession. He never includes Himself among sinners. We think, then, that Christ is unique and without parallel.

II. WE "THINK" THAT THE EXCEPTIONAL MAN HAS ENDOWED US WITH EXCEPTIONAL FRUITS, WITH BENEFITS UNPARALLELED. Not merely fruits of thought, art, literature.

1. Christ's living influence is yearly sending forth missionaries to the most abject tribes upon the earth.

2. Christ's teaching and example furnish a perpetual motive for tending the sick — perpetuating His miracles of healing.

3. Christ did not merely preach a doctrine: He founded a Church, to be the home of charity. Is she not, with her ministries for the poor, like the mother whom we have seen on Alpine or Pyrenean ridges, as she passes some razor-like edge, knitting for her little ones while she goes, though her heart and eye are up among the clouds?

4. Who shall say what Christ gives daily to those who receive Him?

(a)Elevation above sordid selfishness.

(b)Resignation.

(c)Joy.

III. WE "THINK" OF CHRIST THAT HE IS "FIRST-BORN FROM THE DEAD."

1. The resurrection of Christ is not a fraud — not a singular recovery of a lacerated and tortured man, awakened from a death-like swoon by the coolness of the rocky chamber, or by the pungency of the spices l We have to account for cowards turned into heroes; for the faith that overcame the world.

2. Nor is the resurrection of Christ the projection of creative enthusiasm. The Church is too real for a foundation of mist. Faith did not create the resurrection: the resurrection created faith. We think, then, that as Christ was exceptional in His life, and in the benefits He conferred on humanity, so was He in His victory over the grave.

IV. THIS EXCEPTIONAL MAN MUST HAVE HAD AN EXCEPTIONAL ORIGIN. He is the Son of God (Luke 1:35). He is the Word of God (John 1:1). "And the Word was God."

V. CHRIST IS THE WISDOM OFGOD.

VI. HE IS VERY MAN. His delights are with the sons of Adam.

(Bishop William Alexander.)

I. SOME PEOPLE DO NOT THINK MUCH ABOUT HIM ANY WAY. Their minds are preoccupied. They think of something else.

1. These Pharisees were evidently stunned by our Lord's inquiry.

2. We meet those in our time who have reached no convictions worth recording.

3. It is not the part of a wise man to miss such a question as this.

II. SOME DO THINE; AND NOW IT IS OF MUCH IMPORTANCE THAT WE INQUIRE WHAT THEY THINE.

1. There is a historic ideal of Christ. This admits the facts of His life.

2. There is a theologic ideal of Christ. A cold dogmatism is the result.

3. There is a poetic ideal of Christ. One imagines a Jesus to suit himself; the result is mystic or emotional.

4. There is an evangelic ideal of Christ. A sacrifice for sin. It holds all the history; receives the theology; accepts the poetry; it recognizes the atonement.

III. LET US ASK WHAT THIS WILL DO FOR US?

1. Observe, then, how thinking affects the character; ideals control life. Observe also that one may study his ideal through his personal experience and character; and that is the safest way. What is your notion of Christ doing for you?

3. Observe that the only safety for a young believer is found in accepting the scriptural Christ for his all in all.

4. Observe how pitifully the the world's hero-worship contrasts with the Christian's love.

5. Observe that in after ages the question will be reversed; then it will be of the highest moment to ask, What does Christ think of me?

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

I once asked a man what he thought, and he replied frankly, "I suppose I never do think of Jesus Christ." Then I inquired when he was born. He gave the date — 1843. "B.C. or A.D.?" I kept on. He smiled, as if he conjectured I might deem him an antediluvian. But I asked soberly, "Before Christ or after Christ?" He was silent, and I continued, "Have you been dating letters for twenty intelligent years without even reflecting that you were daily commemorating the nativity of Jesus Christ? Have you actually formed no opinion concerning that personage whose advent among men changed the reckoning of time, whose birthday shook the race into a new era, as His crucifixion shook the planet with a new earthquake?"

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Who a man's parents were ordinarily makes very little difference to us. We gauge the man according to his own ability and efficiency, without reference to his origin. Our estimate of Shakespeare or of Bacon is no greater because we know their ancestry. But the case is otherwise with Christ. His practical relation to the world is bound up with His origin. His life suggests, and words lay claim to, a superhuman lineage; and it bears very directly upon the living and thinking of all of us, whether He be indeed born Lord of men and angels, co-equal with God, or whether He be no more than a man like unto ourselves. It makes the difference between worship and admiration; between allegiance and partial adherence; between implicit trust and critical discrimination; between passionate enthusiasm and cool respect. So it behoves us to press the question in this direction; "What think ye of Christ? Is He the Son of God or not?"

(Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)

I. Look AT SOME THINGS ABOUT CHRIST IT IS WELL FOR YOU TO THINK OF.

1. Think of Him as a Prophet.

2. Think of Him as Priest.

3. Think of Him as King, the immortal, the invisible.

4. Think of Him as qualified for these offices by uniting in Himself the nature of the Deity and the nature of man.

II. REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD THINK OF CHRIST.

1. That you may know God.

2. That we may think rightly of ourselves.

3. That you may have faith. Faith comes through thinking.

(S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

He holds all responsible for their thoughts. The question is not how do you act, how do you treat Christ, but what think ye of Christ? The seed is held responsible for the harvest, the child for the man, the thought for the act, the character. Christ declared that he who lusted and bated was an adulterer, a murderer. A thought to the mind of God is a thing. The first requirement of education is that the man shall regulate his thoughts. Says the Apostle: "Whatsoever things are true" (Philippians 4:8). The thought is of first importance. Every harmony that moves the heart of men first swayed the soul of some one as an unexpressed thought. So it is of sculpture and of painting. The thought went before the creation of the universe. The philosopher strives to find out the things which do not appear from those which do appear.

(S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

I. THAT CHRISTIANITY CHALLENGES HUMAN THOUGHT. It is a system of thought; its first impulse is to set the mind at work. You will find in all systems of error a tendency to prevent men from thinking. Tyrants do not wish their people to think. Man is not only to think of things on earth, but of things in heaven. How elevating the character of the thought; it travels to the spiritual and invisible.

II. THE EFFECT WHICH THE THOUGHTS HE. GIVES HAS UPON LITERATURE. The thoughts of Christ are the thoughts that give power to the world. The people who worship Christ are the great inventors and law-givers to our earth.

III. WHERE CHRIST IS RECEIVED AS DIVINE, HUMANITY BECOMES DIGNIFIED AND ENNOBLED; for if Christ was Divine, the human nature may be nearly joined to God. Man is lifted up from grovelling appetites, and becomes the prospective inhabitant of eternity; heir to a throne. Christ connected with human nature sanctifies it.

IV. NOTE ONE PROPHECY. Isaiah saw Him as a child that was born, a son given, called Wonderful, etc. These characteristics of Christ are all fulfilled in Christianity. Christianity was small at first. The cry of a child was heard; then it grew strong like a son, coming to grasp the government; and then it was wonderful. Then as the everlasting Father it is full of pity. "What think ye of Christ?" When we look at Him personally He is our Saviour. Whatever we think I know what others think; the angels, "Glory to God in the highest," etc. What do the host of the departed think: "Unto Him that loved us," etc.

(Bishop Simpson.)

That Christ was lineally descended from David, and that as such, He had the body and the mind and the heart of a man, is a historical fact. That body, first natural, then spiritual, became at His ascension a glorified body; but none the less it was the identical body. Christ is now in heaven. "The son of David" — a man — what is the result of that.

I. Whatever He came to this earth to do is finished and accepted, else He would not be resting there.

II. His presence there in manhood shows what manhood is capable of, what human nature may become.

III. There — in that man Christ, David's son — we have a brother. What a possession — brotherhood in heaven.

1. He is there as a representative man. On the cross He was our substitute, not a representative. Now He is not a substitute, but a representative man.

2. He is pledged as the forerunner of us all.

3. So on earth and in heaven He is David's son and David's Lord. If Christ be man in heaven, no less He is God.

4. And now all that this man died to purchase, He now lives as God to give.

(J. Vaughan, M. A.)

I. The Jews had not the slightest difficulty in answering THAT CHRIST WAS DAVID'S SON. They had learned that all their lives. Natural that He should come from the nation's greatest man. We all have our pictures for the future, and they correspond to Israel's Christ in the part they per. form in our lives. Whose sons are they to be? They are to be born of human exertion. The force of human exertion is all around us, and most of us owe all we have to it. It is the parent of great results in the world.

II. HUMAN EXERTION IS NOT ALL. David called Christ his "Lord." "The Lord said unto my Lord." They had magnified David and his greatness and his power so highly, that the thought of somebody being over him and having a right to command him did not form a very prominent feature in their conception of him; and yet they would have acknowledged that he had a Lord. For that, after all, is an essential of our thought in connection with everything. We all want God for a finish to our ideas, even if we do not want Him practically. If we are thinkers, we like God as representing to us the oneness of our system of thought. He forms a sort of easy transition from one line of thought-to another. The scientific man calls his God law or nature or some such vague term, and he magnifies it very much in all his thoughts and expressions. His Christ, his great ideal, is a lord to him — it is above all that he does. Another man makes his God the summary of all that is beautiful: he loves music or art, and the idea of God represents to him the perfection of that feeling of which he just catches a glimpse when he is wrapped up in one or other those pursuits. God stands to him for that wonderful effect which he cannot explain. Another man is busy with commonplace things; perhaps he sees much of the wickedness of the world, and he likes to think that there is a place where everything is better — that there is one who is not assailed, or even reached, with all that troubles him. He likes to think that there is one who realizes all that is good and pure, which he is sure exists, but in which his circumstances do not allow him to have a very great share. He holds to Christ as his Lord. He has one Christ whom he is to produce who is to be his son: he is working for that every day in the rush of life's battles: he has another Christ who is his Lord — a pure, a high, a noble ideal, far above him: his Lord. Religion supplies just that element of romance to life which we feel the want of, for there is little enough of romance in human exertion, after the novelty of some new effort is over. To many men that thought of God as the great mysterious Lord of life — that thought of a coming power, a Christ as one above and beyond us — is just what they need and hold to, because their life is so busy. It is the dreamers who generally supply the infidels; they do not feel the want of a thought superior to this world so much as the men of affairs who will not let this idea of God the Lord depart from their creed, but hold to it because their thought needs it, little as their lives may use it. We have seen that men do hold these two thoughts of the power that is in the world, and that is to save it. Now, Christ's question is seen in all its importance. It was, Can you hold these two together? David did; he called the same person Son and Lord; he worked to bring forth the Messiah by his great and powerful life, and yet all the time he knew that Messiah was his Lord. Whatever can combine these two ideas is the true Christ: that, and that only, can save the world. We separate these things. The things we work for, in our best moments, we will not acknowledge to be our Lord; She things we worship, the things we acknowledge to be great and pure, we forget when we get out at our work. Our sons are not our lords; our lords are not our sons. Hence, we have no true idea of Christ. Till our practical life, our life of human energy, and our thoughtful, our spiritual life, our life of aspiration, are at one, there is no hope of a real salvation for us. The flesh and the spirit are warring against each other, and that contest is wearing us out. Go tell that man who it working so hard to make a fortune, that that is all he is good for, that he has no thought above money, and he will say you insult him; he will tell you that all that work is only a means — he wants to make the fortune, but he has higher motives: and he will talk vaguely of doing good with it. He is the father of one thing, but he acknowledges another thing as lord. Who shall unite these two in our life? Who is our Christ? That is our Saviour's pointed question. Have we the right idea in searching for a great Deliverer? Only God, in connection with earth, can supply such a want. We shall appreciate that as soon as we see the demand. For, let our object come from the earth, from ourselves, from our fellow-men, and it may stimulate our exertions — it may make us work hard. But we are lords of this earth, we are equal to our fellow-men, and so such an object cannot be our lord-and the best part of us, the cry for something higher, remains unsatisfied. It cannot be the pure thought of God as above us, as apart from us, God the pure and holy One: for, then, how can it be the son of any man, however great and high; how can it call upon our exertions for their assistance in its appearance upon the earth? We are almost driven to give up this idea of a Christ, so difficult does it seem to be to satisfy it; and we go to asking little unimportant questions, and erecting smaller tests as the Pharisees did, or letting the thing drift along unsettled. Jesus claims to be the one that fills this important requirement, and tells us that we must get back to that idea of a Christ before We can appreciate Him; we must answer that old difficulty of David's. He is the Son of David, and the Son of every high and noble character who looks for Him. He came of David's line; He was the fruit of the kingdom which David planted; He carried out into fulness all the character and acts of David's life; He fulfilled all the prophecies and aspirations of David's Psalms. We all know that, if we understand the facts of our Bible at all. But that line of historical facts is but the expression of the fact that He is the Son of all high devoted energy. Christ is to succeed in the world by our energy consecrated to Him. He calls on us to labour for and with Him. Christian character is produced — not by being forced upon us from without, but by the quickening of our own being — that it may bring forth more of Christ in the world. Christ is among us; His life was earthly in all its development; it was His life on earth and among men that made Him Christ. He was David's Lord — far above David in every respect. We read the story of the two lives of David and Jesus, and we never think of doubting which was the life of the Master.

(A. Brooks, D. D.)

People
David, Herodians, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Calleth, Calls, David, Gives, Thus
Outline
1. The parable of the marriage of the king's son.
9. The vocation of the Gentiles.
12. The punishment of him who lacked a wedding garment.
15. Tribute ought to be paid to Caesar.
23. Jesus confutes the Sadducees for the resurrection;
34. answers which is the first and great commandment;
41. and puzzles the Pharisees by a question about the Messiah.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 22:34-46

     7552   Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

Matthew 22:41-45

     1230   God, the Lord
     2078   Christ, sonship of
     5369   kingship, divine

Matthew 22:41-46

     1351   covenant, with David
     5089   David, significance

Matthew 22:42-45

     5151   feet

Library
Sacrifice to Caesar or to God
Eversley, 1869. Chester Cathedral, 1872. Matthew xxii. 21. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Many a sermon has been preached, and many a pamphlet written, on this text, and (as too often has happened to Holy Scripture), it has been made to mean the most opposite doctrines, and twisted in every direction, to suit men's opinions and superstitions. Some have found in it a command to obey tyrants, invaders, any and every government,
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

The Kingdom of Heaven
Chapel Royal, St James'. 1873. St. Matt. xxii. 2-7. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm,
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Two Ways of Despising God's Feast
'And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3. And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 6. But they made light of it, and went their
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Same Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 42
1. The question which was proposed to the Jews, Christians ought to solve. For the Lord Jesus Christ, who proposed it to the Jews, did not solve it Himself, to the Jews, I mean, He did not, but to us He hath solved it. I will put you in remembrance, Beloved, and ye will find that He hath solved it. But first consider the knot of the question. He asked the Jews what they "thought of Christ, whose Son He was to be;" for they too look for the Christ. They read of Him in the Prophets, they expected Him
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 2, Etc. , About the Marriage of the King's Son; against the Donatists, on Charity. Delivered at Carthage In
1. All the faithful [2986] know the marriage of the king's son, and his feast, and the spreading [2987] of the Lord's Table is open to them all [2988] who will. But it is of importance to each one to see how he approaches, even when he is not forbidden to approach It. For the Holy Scriptures teach us that there are two feasts of the Lord; one to which the good and evil come, the other to which the evil come not. So then the feast, of which we have just now heard when the Gospel was being read, has
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 42, Where the Lord Asks the Jews Whose Son they Said David Was.
1. When the Jews were asked (as we have just now heard out of the Gospel when it was being read), how our Lord Jesus Christ, whom David himself called his Lord was David's Son, they were not able to answer. For what they saw in the Lord, that they knew. For He appeared to them as the Son of man; but as the Son of God He was hidden. Hence it was, that they believed that He could be overcome, and that they derided Him as He hung upon the Tree, saying, "If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

The Wedding Garment
The parable may be discoursed upon under five heads. Here is an enemy at the feast; here is the king at the feast; that king becomes the judge at the feast; and hence the enemy becomes the criminal at the feast; and swiftly is removed by the executioner at the feast. I. We see in the text AN ENEMY AT THE FEAST. He came into the banquet when he was bidden, but he came only in appearance, he came not in heart. The banquet was intended for the honour of the son, but this man meant not so; he was willing
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Parable of the Wedding Feast
In order to understand the parable before us we must first direct our attention to the design of the "certain king" here spoken of. He had a grand object in view; he desired to do honor to his son upon the occasion of his marriage. We shall then notice the very generous method by which he proposed to accomplish his purpose; he made a dinner, and bade many: there were other modes of honoring his son, but the great king elected the mode which would best display his bounty. We shall then observe, with
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Making Light of Christ
In the first place, we shall have a few words with you, concerning what it is that the sinner makes light of; secondly, how it is that he makes light of it; and thirdly, why it is that he makes light of it. Then a general observation or two, and we shall not weary you. In the first place, WHAT IS IT THAT THE SINNER MAKES LIGHT OF? According to the parable, the person alluded to made light of a marriage banquet which a king had provided, with all kinds of dainties, to which they were freely invited,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Beatific vision
MATTHEW xxii. 27. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. These words often puzzle and pain really good people, because they seem to put the hardest duty first. It seems, at times, so much more easy to love one's neighbour than to love God. And strange as it may seem, that is partly true. St. John tells us so--'He that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' Therefore many good people, who
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Eternal Goodness
MATTHEW xxii. 39. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Why are wrong things wrong? Why, for instance, is it wrong to steal? Because God has forbidden it, you may answer. But is it so? Whatsoever God forbids must be wrong. But, is it wrong because God forbids it, or does God forbid it because it is wrong? For instance, suppose that God had not forbidden us to steal, would it be right then to steal, or at least, not wrong? We must really think of this. It is no mere question of words, it is
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Heavenly Banquet.
20th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 4. "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage." INTRODUCTION.--The Kingdom of Heaven has two meanings in this parable. It means in the first place the Catholic Church. Into that the apostles and pastors of Christ invite men to enter, and many refuse. In the second place it means the Church Triumphant,--eternal blessedness, and into that the pastors of Christ's Church invite you
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Profession and Practice.
18th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. xxii. 42. "What think ye of Christ?" INTRODUCTION.--Many men are Christians neither in understanding nor in heart. Some are Christians in heart, and not in understanding. Some in understanding, and not in heart, and some are Christians in both. If I were to go into a Temple of the Hindoos, or into a Synagogue of the Jews, and were to ask, "What think ye of Christ?" the people there would shake their heads and deny that He is God, and reject His teaching. The
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Image of Self.
23rd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xxii., 20. "Whose is this image?" INTRODUCTION.--Some people are very fond of contemplating their own excellencies, of admiring their good qualities, or their success in life; they will talk to you of what they have done, how they made this lucky hit, how they outwitted so-and-so, how they escaped such a danger by their foresight. But they are not fond of considering their imperfections, of lamenting their faults, of confessing their failures, their lost opportunities,
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Thankfulness to God.
Harvest S. Matthew xxii., 21. "Render--unto God, the things that are God's." INTRODUCTION.--David says in the 8th Psalm, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him: and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of Thy hands; and Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, all sheep and oxen; yea, and the beast of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea." I. The mastery of man is even more extensive than this; he controls
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Love Thy Neighbour
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.--ST MATTHEW xxii. 39. The original here quoted by our Lord is to be found in the words of God to Moses, (Leviticus xix. 18:) "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord" Our Lord never thought of being original. The older the saying the better, if it utters the truth he wants to utter. In him it becomes fact: The Word was made flesh. And so, in the wondrous
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Of Gratitude for the Grace of God
Why seekest thou rest when thou art born to labour? Prepare thyself for patience more than for comforts, and for bearing the cross more than for joy. For who among the men of this world would not gladly receive consolation and spiritual joy if he might always have it? For spiritual comforts exceed all the delights of the world, and all the pleasures of the flesh. For all worldly delights are either empty or unclean, whilst spiritual delights alone are pleasant and honourable, the offspring of
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Thoughts Upon Our Call and Election.
MANY are called, saith our Saviour, Mat. xxii. 14. but few chosen. Oh dreadful sentence. who is able to hear it without trembling and astonishment! If he had said, that of all the Men that are born in the World, there are but few saved, this would not have struck such fear and horror in us; for we might still hope, that though Turks, Jews, and Heathens, which are far the greatest part of the World, should all perish, yet we few in comparison of them, who are baptized into his Name, who profess his
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Christian State
Scripture references: Matthew 22:17-22; 17:24-27; Acts 23:5; John 6:15; Matthew 4:8-10; John 18:36-38; Mark 14; 61,62; John 18:33; 19:19; Isaiah 9:6,7; 60:3; Zechariah 9:10; Daniel 7:14; Matthew 26:64; 26:53,54; 16:16,17; 25:31,32. CHRIST AND THE STATE The Relation of Christ to the State.--He was an intense patriot. He loved His country. The names of His great countrymen, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and David, were ever on His lips. He offered Himself as the national Messiah (Matthew 21:1-17),
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision D. Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son. ^A Matt. XXII. 1-14. ^a 1 And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, 2 The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. 4 Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Pharisees and Herodians Ask About Tribute. ^A Matt. XXII. 15-22; ^B Mark XII. 13-17; ^C Luke XX. 20-26. ^a 15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk. ^c 20 And they watched him, and sent forth { ^b send unto him} ^a their disciples, ^b certain of the Pharisees and of { ^a with} ^b the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. [Perceiving that Jesus, when on his guard, was too wise for them,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Kingdom of God Conceived as the Inheritance of the Poor.
These maxims, good for a country where life is nourished by the air and the light, and this delicate communism of a band of children of God reposing in confidence on the bosom of their Father, might suit a simple sect constantly persuaded that its Utopia was about to be realized. But it is clear that they could not satisfy the whole of society. Jesus understood very soon, in fact, that the official world of his time would by no means adopt his kingdom. He took his resolution with extreme boldness.
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Royal Marriage Feast.
PART I.--THE WEDDING GUESTS. "And Jesus answered, and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

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