Whose Son is the Christ?

Jesus is in the temple teaching.

Matthew 22, 15 through to the end of the chapter.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk.

And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians saying,

Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully.

And you do not care about anyone's opinion.

For you are not swayed by appearances.

Tell us then what you think.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,

Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Show me the coin for the tax.

And they brought him a denarius.

And Jesus said to them,

Whose likeness and inscription is this?

They said, Caesar's.

Then he said to them,

Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,

and to God the things that are God's.

When they heard it, they marveled,

and they left him and went away.

The same day, Sadducees came to him,

who say that there is no resurrection.

And they asked him a question, saying,

Teacher, Moses said,

If a man dies having no children,

his brother must marry the widow

and raise up children for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers among us.

The first married and died,

and having no children,

left his wife to his brother.

So too the second and the third down to the seventh.

After them all the woman died.

In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven,

whose wife will she be?

For they all had her.

But Jesus answered them,

You are wrong,

because you know neither the scriptures

nor the power of God.

For in the resurrection,

they neither marry nor are given in marriage,

but are like angels in heaven.

And as for the resurrection of the dead,

have you not read what is said to you by God?

I am the God of Abraham,

and the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob.

He is not God of the dead,

but of the living.

And when the crowds heard it,

they were astonished at his teaching.

But when the Pharisees heard

that he had silenced the Sadducees,

they gathered together.

And one of them, a lawyer,

asked him a question to test him.

Teacher, which is the great commandment,

in the law?

And he said to him,

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

and with all your soul,

and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And a second is like it.

You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

On these two commandments

depends all the law and the prophets.

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together,

Jesus asked them a question.

saying,

What do you think about the Christ?

Whose son is he?

They said to him,

The son of David.

He said to them,

How is it then that David,

in the spirit,

calls him Lord?

Saying,

The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies under your feet.

If then David calls him Lord,

how is he his son?

And no one was able to answer him a word,

nor from that day did anyone dare

to ask him any more questions.

Good morning,

dear church.

Welcome again to anyone visiting.

My name's Sam,

and we'll be spending some time

thinking about God's word

for the next half an hour or so.

And also welcome to anyone

who's returning after time away,

Jacob and Annabelle

and David and Alison.

Welcome back.

How about we pray now

and ask God for help.

Psalm 27.

The Lord is my light and salvation.

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Our Father,

we ask this morning

that we would not just come away

with more knowledge,

but come away having met your son

in these pages.

Now that's what we need

and that's what we ask in his name.

Amen.

A teacher of a Grace Kids class

asked their young kids,

what's brown furry

with a bushy tail

that makes good socks?

A child raises their hand and says,

I think the answer you want is Jesus.

But it sounds like a possum to me.

We half laugh and roll our eyes

because often it's the right answer.

The kids may not understand why,

but they picked up

that if you say Jesus,

you're really wrong.

But as we get older

and turn into primary school kids,

teenagers,

adults,

do we get past this answer?

Does this answer become too basic,

too simplistic,

too naive to deal with

all of our grown-up needs?

Our needs.

Most of us this morning

come with questions

we want answered,

our problems and needs

we'd like solved,

niggles that are defining

and disturbing us.

It might be work situations,

uncertain work,

not enough,

too much,

difficult relationships,

marital problems,

problems,

whether to get married,

when to get married,

raising kids,

feeling stagnant

and wanting to grow

as a Christian.

All good questions.

And taking a guess,

most of us think

that answers

to lots of these questions

can be found

in the Bible,

in the book

we're reading this morning.

So what questions

will we ask

of this book?

And is it possible

that we could miss

big,

life-giving answers

by starting

with lesser questions?

The most surprising thing

I've found

in thinking about

this passage

for the last few weeks

is the bad guys

get their answers

from the same place

we do.

So this morning

the question is

not where we

get our answers from,

that's a legit one,

but what question

to ask?

The bad guys

were students

of scripture

like us

this morning

but not asking

the best question.

They passed up

the invitation

to the feast,

failed,

even refused,

remained silent,

to ask the question

that would bring life.

What should we ask

of this book?

Up to the setting

in your bulletin,

verse 15,

have your Bibles open.

It's the Tuesday

before Good Friday

in the temple courts

of Jerusalem.

Jesus has just spoken

three parables

of the Jewish leaders.

in the first,

they are the son

who says one thing

and does another.

In the second,

tenants of a vineyard

who kill the owner's

servants

and eventually

the owner's son.

In the third,

those in the first

round of invites,

the privileged,

but who ignore

or kill the messenger.

And so verse 15

reads,

Then the Pharisees

went and plotted

how to entangle him

in his words.

The set of three questions

that follows

is not just

what happens next,

it is what the Jewish

leaders do

in response,

which is to trap

Jesus

or attempt

to trap Jesus

in his words.

Thinking back

a few years ago

to the 2022

federal election,

Scott Morrison

was asked

if he knew

the price of bread

and a rat test,

I think.

Not how to grow

the economy

or how to ensure

the country is defended,

but the price

of a loaf of bread.

And the question

wasn't neutral,

was it?

It didn't come

from an open-minded

journalist

humbly seeking

the best leader.

They'd already decided.

So the question

was a trap,

a gotcha.

Gotcha questions

miss the point

though,

don't they?

These three

gotcha questions

from Jewish teachers

missed something too.

What's missed

is the question

Jesus asks

at the very end.

So what should we

ask of this book?

Have you ever been

in the hot seat

recently

facing a loaded question?

Can you stay cool

and treat the person

with dignity

and still

get your point across?

This week

we've been

reminded

sadly

how the world

reacts to disagreement

on charged topics

and even

capital T truth.

Well,

unlike us

who flounder

and the world

that tears itself apart,

Jesus' answers

show perfect command,

direct

but never losing

his cool

sharper than glass

but not abrasive,

wisdom from

outside this world,

in his answers

giving much more

than is deserved

and never arguing

for the sake of a win

or his reputation

before others.

His answers

hit at the question

not asked,

his identity,

who he is.

so for us

this morning

I hope

we simply

can meet him

in these pages

and then you can decide

what you think of him.

Do you trust him?

Do you dare

to follow him?

And for those

who know him already,

can we trust him

and live for him

into another week?

So verse 16,

getting into the

passage now,

the first

gotcha attempt.

So verse 16,

the Pharisees

team up

with the Herodians,

Jewish supporters

of Herod,

usually not

the best friends

and the Pharisees

begin by sending

in their disciple

to do their

dirty work.

Skipping ahead

to verse 17,

the gotcha question,

it reads,

is it lawful

to pay taxes

to Caesar?

But at the time

in Judea,

every person,

Jew included,

paid a tax

to Caesar.

Paying tax

to a foreign ruler

in their own

backyard

was a sore point.

Was it lawful

meant

what do the

scriptures say?

What does God

expect?

Can we be

loyal servants

to God

and pay taxes?

In many ways,

and in other

circumstances,

it was a genuine

dilemma

for the Jew.

Yet,

beneath the surface

was a trap

designed to expose

Jesus as either

a traitor

or a rebel.

Verse 18

shows their intent

was malicious,

deadly.

Anyway,

Jesus evades

the trap

and answers

the dilemma.

In verse 18,

Jesus says,

you hypocrites,

why put me

to the test?

Show me the

coin for the

tax.

And just like

that,

they brought him

a denarius.

It seems

finding a

denarius

in the temple

is easy.

Remember,

too,

the day before,

Jesus has

already found

the temple

overrun

with Marcus.

The question

has a

veneer

of integrity,

but it

seems

behind the

scenes,

the Jewish

leaders have

no problem

with the

temple using

and even

benefiting

from Roman

coin.

So,

Jesus'

answer in

verse 21,

render to

Caesar the

things that are

Caesar's and

to God the

things that are

God's.

Meaning,

if you use

and benefit

from Rome's

currency,

pay for it.

We

probably don't

feel the full

weight of this

answer,

and that's

because we

don't feel the

split loyalty

between God

and government

that was felt

by our

Jews.

There are

exceptions

for us

where governments

play God,

deciding,

for example,

when life

begins and

ends,

but by and

large,

our

experience

is that

government

is not

God.

It's a

servant of

God.

But this

separation is

a historical

abnormality.

The Jews

had kings

and a ruling

class who

were supposed

to lead

the people

in religion.

Rome had

Caesars who

called themselves

gods.

What we

take as

normal today

isn't

normal.

An elder

put me on

to Jordan

Peterson

commenting

on Jesus'

answer,

in which

he says

it's

miraculous.

Himself,

not a

believer in

miracles,

because he

sees wisdom

in Jesus'

answer that's

historically out

of this world.

Who is this

person?

under the

surface,

there's also

a deeper

biblical

reason for

Jesus'

answer.

Remember

Genesis 12,

God establishes

a nation and

later a kingdom

from Abraham's

descendants.

The whole

reason for this

nation,

though,

was to give

birth to the

Christ.

Christ.

The Christ

had come,

and so there

was no need

to shore up

Judea,

to return to

the days of

David's kingdom.

There's probably

much more we

could say about

this question,

but we'll move

on to the

second gotcha

attempt from

verse 23.

Gotcha

attempt 2.

Verse 23,

that same

day.

This time,

it's the

Sadducees'

turn,

who denied

the resurrection.

And to

understand

their question,

we do need

to take in

verse 24.

In the

Mosaic law,

there was a

provision for

when a man

died,

leaving no

children.

It was

possible for

the dead

man's

brother,

presumably

unmarried,

to marry

the widow,

have kids,

and carry on

the family

name.

Strange to

us, but I

think it was

sort of a

kind provision

in those

days, given

the importance

of

offspring.

The gotcha

question,

though,

verse 24

to 28,

let's read

it.

Teacher,

Moses said,

if a man

dies having

no children,

his brother

must marry

the widow

and raise

up offspring

for his

brother.

Now,

there were

seven brothers

among us,

the first

married and

died,

and having

no offspring,

left his

wife to

his brother.

father,

so too

the second

and third

down to

the seventh.

After them

all, the

woman died.

In the

resurrection,

therefore,

of the

seven,

whose wife

shall she

be?

So which

will it be,

Jesus?

Seven potential

husbands in

heaven,

and all of

them brothers?

Or some

other way to

decide which

one is the

husband?

man,

or perhaps

this dilemma

shows that

this

resurrection,

life after

death thing

isn't a

thing at

all.

Which one,

Jesus?

Got you

there.

It's a

highly improbable

situation,

isn't it?

I think

they're quite

proud of the

way they've

structured their

question.

But it all

shows the

intent to

trip Jesus

up.

And Jesus

shows there

are two

problems.

Verse 29,

they don't

know the

scriptures,

nor God's

power.

They don't

know the

power of

God,

because

verse 30,

in the

resurrection,

that is,

in the new

state of

existence,

a resurrection

brings,

is a

complete

upgrade.

And in

this upgrade,

Jesus says

there will

be no

office of

births,

deaths,

or marriages.

No

marriage,

because there

will be no

births,

and no

births,

because there

will be no

death.

The Sadducees

don't appreciate

the power of

God.

As an

aside to

the married

among us,

Jesus does

not say

relationship

will end.

Paul

rejoices,

the

apostle Paul

rejoices over

the thought

that he

will stand

shoulder to

shoulder in

heaven with

those he

has toiled

over,

spent countless

hours pouring

hours into

in this life.

Why not to a

similar joy for

spouses who have

helped each

other get

there?

The second

problem in

their question

is they

don't know

the scriptures.

Verse 32.

Let's read it

again.

Verse 32.

I am the

God of

Abraham and

the God of

Isaac and

the God of

Jacob.

He is not

the God of

the dead,

but of the

living.

I suspect

without Jesus'

interpretation,

we may read

this verse

quite a few

times and not

reach the

conclusion Jesus

does.

Jesus shows

us,

though,

that Abraham,

Isaac and

Jacob's earthly

life may have

finished many

years ago,

but God's

relationship with

them holds

good.

I am,

not I

was.

I am the

God of

Abraham.

One of the

elders pointed

out to me

another

significant word

and that's

of.

He is the

God of

Abraham.

Abraham

still is

God's,

even though

his earthly

life is

finished.

He belongs

to God.

And this

God plays

for keeps.

The

relationship

we have

with God

will last

as long

as he

does.

Death

is no

full stop.

Such

clarity

in so

few words.

I think

that's another

surprising thing

is that

Jesus really

uses very

few words

words to

get his

point across.

So few

words that

we can

only aspire

to.

And what

about the

grace and

goodness of

his answers,

giving far

more than

these hostile

questions

deserve?

God

your attempt

three.

In

verse

33,

the

crowd's

astonished,

and we

learn in

verse 34,

Jesus'

answer had

silenced the

Sadducees.

So word

gets back to

the Pharisees,

they gather

and send

in an

expert in

the law

for one

last

go.

Verse

36 reads,

Teacher,

which is

the greatest

commandment

in the

law?

Perhaps

the tests

lay in

choosing one

commandment

and downplaying

others,

leaving a

soft spot

exposed to

attack.

Jesus answers

from verse

37,

and he

said to

him,

You shall

love the

Lord your

God with

all your

heart and

all your

soul,

and with

all your

mind.

Isn't

that the

case for

us too?

Things are

rarely at

peace in

our own

relationships

if we have

not grasped

how worthy

God is of

our love and

devotion simply

for who he

is.

In a book,

Marriage Matters,

Beth and I

have dipped

into and

previously

with our

small group

many years

ago, the

author says

marriage

problems or

any relationship

problem is

firstly a

God problem.

He recalls a

time when he

lashed out at

his wife

verbally,

because,

this is the

author,

because she

was late to

pick up the

kids,

because she

was out with

friends and

so there was

some sort

of miscommunication.

This then

limited his

Bible study

prep time,

and so he

became angry,

and he

reflects on the

incident and

says,

what I was

really loving

in that time

was the

approval of

my Bible

study group.

And so he

concludes that

all our

problems are

worship problems

or what we

love,

the first and

the greatest.

And this

then leads

into a

two-for-one

deal,

not just

one commandment

but two.

Verse 39,

you shall

love your

neighbor as

yourself.

So taken

together,

without love

for God

and neighbor,

every other

act of

obedience is

not obedience.

verse 40

says,

on these

two commandments

depend all

the law

and the

prophets.

The answer

brings into

focus what's

lacking in

their own

observance of

the law and

in each of

us.

Who can

follow this

law?

Who has

clean hands

and a

pure

heart?

All the

mind,

all the

heart,

all the

soul.

Psalm 27,

not us

but the

Lord of

glory.

All their

study of

scripture,

the Pharisees

that is,

their time

and efforts

pouring over

the words

did not

yield this

love or

rightly

convict

them that

like us

they need

heart surgery.

the constant

reminder of

the Old

Testament was

circumcise your

hearts.

You need a

new one.

So the

solution for

the Pharisees

is the same

for us.

Come to

Jesus.

He gives

you his

perfect

obedience

and a

new heart

as a

gift.

The

question

Jesus

asks,

verse 41,

Now while

the Pharisees

were gathered

together,

Jesus asked

them a

question,

saying,

what do

you think

about the

Christ?

Whose

son is

he?

As

teachers of

scripture,

what should

have been

foremost in

their minds?

As

students of

scripture this

morning,

what should

be foremost

in our

minds?

Well,

Jesus has

to tell

them and

maybe he

has to

remind us

too this

morning.

Whose

son is

the

Christ?

Occasionally,

instead of

using the

word Christ,

I'm going

to use

the phrase

God's

forever

king.

Verse 42,

they answer,

the son

of David.

And 2

Samuel 7

does promise

that God's

forever king

would come

from David.

So their

answer is

correct.

But not

complete.

Because go

down to

verse 45,

it's the

last thing

Jesus says,

and Jesus

is still

pressing the

question.

Yes,

he's the

son of

David,

but he's

more than

that.

And Jesus

answers for

them by

going to

Psalm 110,

a psalm

written by

David himself

about God's

forever king.

And the

quotation

shows three

things about

the forever

king.

He's lord,

he sits,

and he's

one.

All three

suggest he's

greater than

just David's

human son.

With the

implication that

if David

recognised this,

then you

too,

you teachers

of the

law,

should recognise

this as

well.

The first

one,

he's lord.

His answer

starts with

a question

in verse

43.

How is

it then

that David

in the

spirit

calls him

lord?

Dads

call their

sons by

all sorts

of nicknames,

buddy,

mate,

champ,

junior,

pup,

scoundrel,

mischief

maker,

oi,

you.

but lord?

Any

dads dare

to do

that

here?

Whose

son

is

David's

lord?

Well,

the word

lord is

most often

used of

god.

Here's

one example

from

psalm

8.

O

yahweh,

our

lord,

how

majestic

is your

name in

all the

earth.

Yahweh,

God,

Lord,

all divine

names.

Let's

keep

reading

in verse

44.

It's

about to

get

wonderfully

weird.

David

overhears

a conversation

in which

Yahweh,

that's the

first lord

mentioned,

speaks

to David's

lord.

The

lord,

Yahweh,

said to

my lord,

David's

lord.

Two

divine

persons

talking.

What does

Yahweh say

to David's

lord?

He

sits.

He

tells him

to sit.

That

probably

doesn't

strike you

as,

it probably

strikes you

as something

fairly

normal,

something

my wife

has told

me that

I'm

doing

too much

of at

the

moment.

But

take

note

of where

he's

sitting.

It

makes

all the

difference.

Sit

at my

right

hand.

Sitting

next to

Yahweh

in heaven.

Who does

that?

For a

comparison,

remember how

careful the

high priest

had to be

going into

the temple

once per

year,

one for

many.

He would

symbolically

take the

people

into God's

presence

at high

risk to

himself,

but only

in a

limited way

due to

their sin.

In the

real deal,

not just

the earthly

copy,

in heaven,

not just

where God's

presence was

modelled,

but where

God

dwelled,

verse 44,

this was a

hold-on-to-your-seat

moment for me,

Yahweh says

to David's

Lord,

sit

down.

And I'll

add from

Hebrews,

stay

forever.

Not just

David's son

or descendant,

is he?

The last

little point

is he's

won.

King David

provided rest

from Israel's

enemies for

a time.

Even then,

as great as

it was,

it wasn't

the real,

more ancient

enemy,

sin and

death.

King David's

Lord has

won,

and even

sin and

death will

be his

foot cushion

or footstool.

All three,

taken together,

show the

great King

David looked

forward to

God's

forever king,

who turned

out to be

God the

Son.

And Jesus

shows the

Pharisees

should follow

David's

lead.

In verse

46,

the last

verse,

they dare

not ask

more

questions.

Silence,

as Emma

pointed out

in the

kids'

talk.

And if

you're new

to all this

this morning,

you're visiting,

you might not

know what

questions to

ask or even

where to

start.

don't stop

asking

questions.

We've seen

how patient

and gracious

Jesus is in

his answers.

The question

though is

sort of left

hanging.

Jesus'

last words

to them

is a

question.

Whose

son?

We do

have a

fairly good

idea of

what it is

Jesus is

alluding

to,

but we

don't have

to go

too far

into

Matthew

to find

an

explicit

answer.

Flick

back to

Matthew 3,

Matthew

Matthew 3:16

chapter 3,

verse 16

and 17.

And when

Jesus was

baptized,

immediately

he went

up from

the water

and behold,

the heavens

were opened

to him

and he

saw the

spirit of

God

descending

like a

dove

and coming

to rest

on him.

And behold,

a voice

from heaven

said,

this is

my beloved

son with

whom I'm

well pleased.

Whose

son is

the Christ?

He's the

divine

son who

personally

joined

himself to

human flesh,

God and

man in

the same

person.

The same

person through

whom the

universe was

made is

the one

giving the

answers and

asking the

question we

too should

ask.

God

let's

pause for

a bit

before we

go into

some more

application.

What's

been your

take on

the Pharisees?

We've

been looking

at the

Pharisees for

the last

few weeks

and Jesus'

interaction

with them.

In

stories,

it's good

to have a

villain,

isn't it?

Someone to

point the

finger,

someone to

create a

bit of

comfortable

distance

for us.

Matthew

16,

6,

Jesus says

to his

disciples,

beware of

the leaven

of the

Pharisees.

We're his

disciples too,

so I take it

on notice from

Jesus that

we should be

wary of the

leaven of

the Pharisees.

If not a

problem today,

then maybe in

the future.

Leaven or

yeast, as the

bread makers

among us

know, has a

transforming

effect, but

it happens

imperceptibly,

sometimes without

us realising,

hence Jesus'

warning.

Lots of

ways we can

be leavened,

but what have

we seen in

this passage?

Well, I

think in

each question

that is asked

by the

Pharisees,

and the

question Jesus

asks,

Scripture is

the starting

point.

The bad

guys, although

they made a

few additions

and omissions,

share with

us where we

get our

answers from.

So where

did things

go wrong?

Jesus in

John 5,

speaking of

the Pharisees,

says,

you search the

Scriptures because

you think that in

them you have

eternal life.

they were

teachers,

students,

scribes of the

Old Testament,

those who

Romans 2 took

pride in being

a guide to

the blind,

a light to

those in

darkness,

a teacher of

children,

but did not

teach themselves.

Grace kids

teachers,

ministry leaders,

small group

leaders,

people who

preach even.

John 5,

39,

continues,

it is

they,

this book,

the Bible,

that bear

witness about

me,

yet you

refuse to

come to me

for life.

We can

get answers

from the

right place,

but not

go to

whom the

Scriptures

point.

Jesus,

the Son

of God,

this is

the last

heading in

your

outlines.

I'm

partway

through

reading a

book by

Dan Hames,

it's not a

household name,

and the

book is a

biography of a

5th century

Christian,

Cyril of

Alexandria,

but in the

book,

Dan weaves

in his own

story into

the debates

of the

time.

Centered

on,

who is

Jesus,

and whose

son is

he?

The same

questions we've

been looking

at this

morning.

Was he

just a

man invisibly

assisted by

God,

so God

wouldn't have

to get his

hands dirty,

or God

himself joined

to human

flesh?

And Dan

relates his

coming of

age to

having this

question answered.

Growing

up, Dan

thought Jesus

was something

of what God

is like.

He

wondered if

there was a

different God

behind the

one he

saw in

Jesus.

In youth

group years,

he saw the

experience of

other youth

and thought

he was

missing

something,

some

ecstatic

experience

that he

didn't have.

At

university,

he told a

friend,

I believe

in God,

but I

don't know

how Jesus

fits in.

God

is

God,

he

did not

know

the truth

that

Matthew

in his

gospel

points

to,

the truth

Cyril

defended

is this,

the man

Jesus,

who we've

thought about

this morning,

is the

same person

as God

the Son.

And as I

close,

I'll finish

with a Dan

thought bubble

to take

away.

If Jesus

is God

the Son,

then what

we see

in Jesus

is what

God is

like.

Which

means

Jesus

is bigger

than we

think.

Fullness

of God

dwells

bodily,

Colossians