Chapter 22.
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.
The two previous parables: Two Sons, and the Workers in the Vineyard
In the parable of the two sons who were asked to work in the vineyard, Jesus shows that the religious leaders promised to serve God but didn’t do so. There are others, however (tax collectors and harlots) who make no such promise to serve God, but after seeing the error of their ways, they repent. Therefore, they will enter the kingdom of heaven before the religious leaders.
Jesus then went on to tell another parable, this time about a landowner who hires vinedressers to care for his vineyard. But when the time comes for them to give the owner some of the fruits of their labor, they refuse. Instead they murder the servants that he sends to them — including the landowner’s son.
In both parables Jesus is indirectly telling the religious leaders that they have rejected their call to be servants of God. Although they had clothed themselves in the outward garments of religious ritual, 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, thereby glorifying God rather than themselves. As Jesus says, “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (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. So, Jesus was free to keep telling them 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. He will now explain how this transfer will take place.
The next parable in the series: The Invitation to the Wedding
“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,” says Jesus. This king “sent out servants to call those who were invited to the wedding” (22:1-2). Literally, the words are “call them who are called.” Although the religious leaders are as yet unaware, Jesus is referring to them. The religious leaders had been called to be servants of God, teaching truth and leading the people thereby to lead lives of useful service. This was the work that the religious leaders were “called” to perform, and they are the ones who are “called” to the wedding. However, as the parable continues, Jesus says, “they were not willing to come” (22:3).
On a more interior level, Jesus is speaking about all those who have the opportunity to receive the truth when it comes to them. In other words, everyone is called. It is a “royal invitation” to come to a great wedding. The “servants” who come to us with an invitation from the king are the many truths from Lord’s Word. They “call” to each of us in various ways, bidding us to receive them in mind and heart. As it is written in the prophets, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). The law “in our minds” signifies the understanding of truth; but when the law has been written on our hearts, we not only understand it, but we also perceive the good in it, and love to live according to it. 1
The servants sent by the king, then, are truth from the Lord’s Word. To the extent that we receive these truths, and sincerely desire to put them into our lives, we prepare ourselves for the marriage of good and truth within us. This means that the truth we receive longs to find expression in loving action. Similarly, the goodness that we receive longs to express itself in a way that is wise. In this way, goodness and truth become “wedded” to each other within us. 2
In the sacred symbolism of the parable, this “heavenly marriage” is compared to a joyous wedding feast to which all are invited. However, says that few are willing to attend. As it is written, “they were not willing to come” (22:3). The Lord, who is always ready to give another chance, sends out “other servants.” These are different truths, and sometimes even the same truths expressed in different ways — again inviting us to the wedding. This time, greater incentives are mentioned: “Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding’” (22:4).
It should be kept in mind that this parable is about an invitation to a wedding — not the wedding itself. Spiritually speaking, we are all invited to prepare ourselves for the wedding through accepting the invitation. But just as a menu is not a meal, an invitation is not a wedding. In order to enter into a holy union with the Lord, and enjoy the delights of that union, we must first prepare ourselves. We must first accept the invitation — that is, we must learn the truths of the Lord’s Word. Only then will we be properly prepared for the heavenly marriage, not only of good and truth within ourselves, but also for the heavenly marriage between ourselves and the Lord.
In spite of the king’s earnest and repeated urging, and in spite of his promises of great delights (signified by the oxen and fatted cattle), the invited guests still refuse to accept the invitation. Instead, “they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his own business” (22:5). Even worse, there were others who not only made light of the invitation, but utterly despised and rejected it. We read, “And the rest seized his servants, insulted them, and killed them” (22:6).
Jesus, it will be remembered, is telling this parable to the religious leaders — the very ones who wanted to seize Him but were afraid to do so. Jesus is not only reading their minds but understanding the desires of their hearts. Earlier, when Jesus told them the parable about the vinedressers who murder not only the landowner’s servants, but also his son (21:33-40), He was also referring to the religious leaders who, He knew, wanted to murder Him. 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” (21:41).
With this in mind, Jesus continues the parable of the wedding feast by incorporating their 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” (22:7).
This a clear and vivid 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. 3
The Lord’s invitation is perpetual. We read, therefore, that the king says 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” (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. 4
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?” (22:12). The man cannot answer. We read, “He was silenced” (22:12).
This man, who comes to the wedding without a proper garment, represents our tendency to give lip service to the idea that there is a God and that we need to live according to His commandments if we want to be saved. All too often, the spoken confession does not match the inner reality of people’s lives. The Lord requires that we follow Him in faith and in heart. 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 motives are self-serving — to obtain the good favor of others, to advance their reputation, to gain material rewards. While they may get by with a façade of morality in this life, it will not help them in the next life, for there everything will be exposed. In that world, interior evil can no longer be hidden. 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; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (22:13). 5
Our internal motivations in this world determine our lot in the next life. If everything we do 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.” If we indulge in histrionic self-pity and in vicious arguing to prove our point, our state in the next life will be represented by “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And if we choose to reject the light of truth that the Lord offers to each of us — as the religious leaders did — our state in the next life will be represented by being “cast into the outer darkness” of ignorance and falsity.
A familiar refrain: many are called, but few are chosen
As Jesus concludes this parable, He once again repeats the words, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (22:14; 20:16). In the context of this series of parables, Jesus is referring to all who are called to the heavenly marriage, for this marriage takes place within each of us when we sincerely live by the truth that we know, and when we do 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 — to the extent that we are willing to receive the spiritual seeds of goodness and truth from Him. This is what it means to not only accept the invitation to heaven, but also to receive heaven in ourselves. 6
Looking ahead
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.
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.
There are many evils, but hypocrisy is the worst of all because it calmly and deliberately makes plans for gaining advantage over others, using trickery and deceit to achieve its self-serving ends. In the case of the religious leaders, who used the sacred things of religion to promote their own significance, secure material comforts, and gain power of the people, hypocrisy had reached an all-time low. They had disguised inward evil as outward righteousness. Sadly, they had managed to fool the people they led. 7
In the parable about the king sending out invitations to his son’s wedding, Jesus addressed this issue. The king represents God, the wedding represents admission to heaven, and the man who was cast out because he is not wearing a proper wedding garment represents the religious leaders who used religion for selfish purposes. The man without a proper wedding garment was not only cast out of the wedding, he was “bound hand and foot, and cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Taken literally, this sounds like an unusually severe punishment for simply wearing the wrong clothing to a wedding. Historians tell us that in olden times, kings would provide wedding garments for their guests. The refusal to wear a wedding garment, then, would not only represent a rejection of the court custom, but, more significantly, it would display defiant disrespect for the king. When we consider that the king represents the Lord Himself, its easy to see that the punishment was not merely about coming to the wedding improperly clothed. It was about thinking that a person can disrespect God’s commandments and still be admitted to heaven.
The improper wedding garment, then, is the deliberate refusal to obey God’s commandments. In the case of the religious leaders, they not only refused to obey the commandments, but they made their own traditions more important than the commandments of God. Even worse, they set themselves up in place 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.” 8
One way to make sure that we maintain control over others is to defeat them in clever arguments. This sometimes turns into bitter arguments and disputations. Those who cannot bear to be wrong about anything, are furiously angry when anyone dares to contradict them. They devise various schemes to gain revenge over those who outsmart them, and they entangle people in difficult questions that cannot be easily answered. In this way, they believe they can demonstrate their intellectual supremacy and maintain control. In the language of sacred scripture, this kind of argumentation and strife, often accompanied sarcasm and verbal cutting, is called “gnashing of teeth.” 9
In this next episode, this is precisely what happens to Jesus as the religious leaders try to ensnare Him in an intellectual debate. We read, “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk” (22:15). They seek to find some way they can trap Him in a trick question. So, they send a delegation to Him with the sanctimonious words, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth” (22:15). Their words sound polite and courteous, but Jesus knows what is in the hearts. As they continue their flowery but insincere praise, they ask the question that is designed to trap Him: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (22:17).
Jesus is not fooled. He sees through their hypocrisy and calls them on it: “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?” He says. Jesus knows that this is a trick question devised to trap Him. If He says “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” He will incur the wrath 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 Romans, they will arrest Him immediately. Either way, the question is meant as a trap either to weaken Jesus’ influence 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?” (22:18). Nevertheless, Jesus plays along with their scheme and says, “Show me the tax money.” When they do this, bringing to Him a denarius, Jesus says, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they answer Him, saying, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then says, “Render, therefore to Caesar, the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (22:19-21). Not only does Jesus avoid their clever trap, but He uses this opportunity to teach an immortal lesson about how to live in the world, while not being of the world.
The distinction between this world and the next has often confused and baffled religious leaders. There are some who so emphasize spiritual life over civil and domestic life, that they encourage celibacy, voluntary poverty, and living in religious seclusion far from the world and its cares. The extreme of this position, of course, would be to have no money, no income, no ability to pay taxes, and no interest in doing so. At the center of this approach is reverent contemplation of God, prayer, meditation, and absolute serenity. Nothing else matters, and all outward activity is seen as a distraction.
At the other extreme is the “social gospel.” Here the emphasis is on active involvement in the world, caring for sick, feeding the hungry, and being as useful to others as possible. In this approach, there is little time for, or concern with, matters of piety, doctrinal debate, or religious ritual. The focus is upon life in this world, involvement in social concerns, and doing everything one can to relieve the temporal suffering of humanity.
Jesus, however, in His answer to the Pharisees goes to neither extreme. He simply says, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” His response is similar to the one He gave when questioned about paying the temple tax (17:24). 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 He vehemently disagreed with what was going on in the temple, Jesus still agreed to pay the religious tax. 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. 10
At the same time, Jesus also knows that “renouncing the world” in the name of religion is ultimately self-defeating. We can only become fully developed spiritual beings through being involved with the world. In brief, the heavenly marriage of truth (learning truth from the Lord’s Word) and goodness (applying it to life), can only come about through an active life in the world. 11
Stumped by Jesus’ response, the religious leaders are silenced once again. We read, “They marveled, and leaving Him, went away” (22:22).
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].
Is there more to life than the few short years we live on earth? Are we immortal beings, with souls that cannot die? Even though our body will eventually age and die, does our soul live forever? In Jesus’ day, the Sadducees were a religious group who firmly denied the concept of the “immortality of the soul.” They believed that when the body died, the soul died also, and that there is no such thing as an angel, or a spirit. Therefore, as this next episode begins, we read that “The Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him” (22:23).
Their trick question is about the resurrection. “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” (22:24). They are referring to a law from the Hebrew scriptures which is stated as follows: “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 as his wife” (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.
The Sadducees are referring to this law as they offer the following test case to Jesus: “Now there were seven brothers,” they say. “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” (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 answer their question by simply saying, “Her first husband” or “Her last husband.” In either case He could end the discussion then and there. But, as always, He takes advantage of the opportunity to teach vital lessons about the life that leads to heaven. And so, 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” (22:30).
In answering the Sadducees in this way, Jesus asserts first of all that there is a resurrection and, secondly, that there really are angels — two premises the Sadducees flatly deny. Jesus also says that in the resurrection “they neither marry nor are given in marriage,” but are like the angels of God in heaven. 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. His words to the Sadducees are no exception.
In saying that resurrected beings “neither marry nor are given in marriage,” Jesus is referring to spiritual marriages, not the lustful co-habitations called “marriage” that were practiced at that time. The language of the Sadducees reveals how coarse and crude their idea of marriage is: “For they all had her,” they say. Such words as “love,” “devotion,” “loyalty,” “faithfulness,” and “commitment,” do not arise. This is because the Sadducees are speaking of a merely physical relationship without any lasting spiritual connection. Marriage, as the Sadducees picture it, does not continue after death. In this case, Jesus’ words apply most literally to marriage as the Sadducees understand it: “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage.”
However, when marriage is seen as a spiritual union between a husband and wife who tenderly love each other, and trust in God, it will indeed endure forever, for God does not separate what He has joined together (19:6). 12 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 have two bodies but one soul. They are therefore called an angelic pair, or simply, “one angel.” 13
This, then, is why Jesus could say, most truly, “they are like angels of God in heaven.”
In the episode which precedes the questions posed by the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding to which all are invited. This wedding represents the internal marriage of truth and goodness — the heartfelt desire to apply the Lord’s truth to our lives. As we do so, we enter the heavenly 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 and to enter the heavenly marriage with Him. 14
“Come to the wedding,” says the king in the most recent parable. “Come to the wedding” says the Lord to each of us, and do it now — in this lifetime — for in the resurrection we will not have the same opportunity.
God of the Living
As Jesus concludes His message to the Sadducees, He adds one more thought: “But concerning the resurrection of the dead,” He says, “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” (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 can see nothing in the 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 they were alive — not that He is still their God, and that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive in the world of eternity.
Jesus’ interpretation of this very familiar and sacred teaching was received quite differently by the common people who heard it, and by the Sadducees who had asked Jesus about marriage in the resurrection. The people were “astonished,” and the Sadducees were “speechless” (22:33-34). Just as Jesus 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 “teeth gnashing” will continue.
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 great commandment in the law?” (22:36). This is another trap. 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 always tell the truth and am an honest worker, therefore it doesn’t really matter whether or not I commit a little adultery.” Another person might say, “I know that putting in for more hours than I actually worked may be a form of stealing, but it’s not as bad as cheating on my wife.” Either way, the attempt to play one commandment off against another undermines our integrity. All of the commandments are all important; they are all great. God does not tell us to keep “the most important ones.” He tells us to keep all of them.
In a previous episode, a rich 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 ruler’s reply was, “Which ones?” (19:18).
Understandably, if there were 613 commandments in the law (as many rabbis taught), this question was a legitimate one. But when this lawyer asks the same question, Jesus knows that it is another trick question, 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: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Deuteronomy 6:5). “This is the first and great commandment,” (22:37-38). Then, without a moment’s hesitation, He links another passage of scripture to it: “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. For He knows that neither 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” (22:40).
As we look more deeply into the question regarding the “greatest” commandment, we might look again at our own tendency to overemphasize 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. “It is more important to offer people a helping hand,” we say, “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 great commandment?” There are two great commandments, just as there are two table 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 versus 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. Only this coin is not stamped with the image of Caesar. It is stamped with the image of God.
Jesus could not have been more direct. With this answer He 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 marriage. Never again will they be separated.
The theme of marriage — divine and human — continues. “What God has joined together let not man separate.”
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.
It is now Jesus’ turn to ask a question. “What do you think about the Christ?” He says. “Whose Son is He?” The Pharisees answer by saying, “The son of David” (22:41). But Jesus 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”’?” (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 the very point that Jesus is making when He asks the question, “If David then calls Him, ‘Lord’” referring to the coming Messiah, “how is He his son?” (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” (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 (the divine love) asking the visible Son on earth (the divine truth) to sit at His right hand. This means that the divine love of the Father will go forth through the Son (truth), with omnipotent power (the “right hand”). The Father’s love,
which comes to earth through the Son, 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.” 15
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 by 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.”
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” — the seed of the serpent — a gathering of proud, unrepentant, religious leaders who fear and hate Jesus’ rising influence with the multitudes. (see 12:34). Such leaders are 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 the enemy and the avenger. Therefore, this episode concludes with the words, “No one could answer Him a word, neither dared anyone from that day question Him any longer” (22:46). They had tried three times to trap Jesus in their teeth gnashing debates but failed every time. Nor could they answer Jesus’ one question about the son of David. Jesus has silenced the enemy.
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).
V:
1. Apocalypse Revealed 3: “Because the genuine spiritual sense is abstracted from person, the term ‘servants’ signifies truths.” See also Arcana Coelestia 10336[3]: “The phrase ‘writing the law on the heart’ refers to Divine truth entering into the will, thus into a person's love. When this is done, the person no longer has to draw Divine truth from memory; instead the good itself belonging to love causes a person to perceive intuitively.”
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. 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 is that destroys a person; the Lord destroys no one.” See also Psalm 145:9: “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercy is over all His works.”
4. Arcana Coelestia 904[2]: “The Lord is merciful to everyone, and loves everyone, and wills to make everyone happy to eternity.”
5. 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 societies. These hypocrites have been taught to conceal their interiors and to compose their exteriors so as to appear in the form of the good in which are those who belong to the society, and thus 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 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”
6. 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.” See also New Jerusalem Its Heavenly Doctrine 232: “Each individual has heaven within oneself to the extent that the person receives love and faith from the Lord. Those who receive heaven from the Lord while living in the world come into heaven after death.”
7. 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.”
8. 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.”
9. 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, blaspheming; and these evils burst forth into lacerations of various kinds, since everyone fights for his own falsity and calls it truth. These disputes and combats are heard outside these hells like the gnashings of teeth.”
10. New Jerusalem 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.”
11. New Jerusalem Its Heavenly Doctrine 126: “It is believed by many, that to renounce the world, and to live in the spirit and not in the flesh, is to reject worldly things, which are chiefly riches and honors; to be continually engaged in pious meditation concerning God, concerning salvation, and concerning eternal life; to lead a life in prayer, in the reading of the Word and pious books; and also to afflict oneself. But this is not renouncing the world; but to renounce the world is to love God and to love the neighbor; and God is loved when man lives according to His commandments, and the neighbor is loved when man performs uses. Therefore in order that man may receive the life of heaven, it is altogether necessary that he should live in the world, and engage in offices and business there.”
12. Heaven and Hell 372: “Man’s not separating what God has joined together, means that good is not to be separated from truth.”
13. 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.” In Conjugial Love 75 Swedenborg speaks of his interview with a married couple in heaven. He writes, “I looked in turn from husband to wife and back again, and observed that their faces showed how they were almost of one soul. So I said: ‘You two are one.’ The man replied: ‘We are one. Her life is in me and mine is in her; we are two bodies, but one soul.’”
14. 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.”
15. Arcana Coelestia 8910: “The hand corresponds to the power that truth possesses, the right hand to the power of truth coming from good.”
