Matthew 22


Matthew 22:1

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

(a) Them. Jesus is teaching in the temple courtyards. The chief priests and elders have come to challenge his credentials. Jesus deflects their ambush questions before launching into a series of three pointed parables—the Two Sons (Matt. 21:28–32), the Wicked Tenants (Matt. 21:33–46), and the Wedding Feast—that expose the unfaithfulness of Israel’s religious leaders.

(b) Parables. The Parable of the Wedding Feast, also called the Marriage Feast, is similar to the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:16–24). Both parables are about a generous host who throws open his doors to all after his invited guests refuse to come to his feast. Yet there are some important differences between the two parables. In the Wedding Feast, some guests not only decline the invitation but also mistreat and kill the king’s messengers. In response, the king sends his armies to kill these murderers and burn their city. Another guest arrives at the feast wearing the wrong clothes. He is bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness. What are we to make of these strange events?

Some read the parable as a call to act holy. “Grace gets you into the kingdom, but you have to prove yourself through holy living. Fail to pass muster, and you’ll be cast out.” Yet Jesus said he would never cast away those who come to him (John 6:37). Something doesn’t add up.


Matthew 22:2

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

(a) The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God refers to the reign of God revealed through his Son. In this present age, it is expressed through the body of Christ, the church. See entry for Matt. 3:2.

(b) A king… his son. The king and his son represent God the Father and God the Son.

(c) Compared. The parable is an analogy that compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast.

(d) Wedding. The spiritual union between Christ and his church is often symbolized in Scripture as a marriage (Matt. 25:1, Mark 2:19–20, Eph. 5:24–25, Rev. 19:7–9, 21:2, 9).

(e) Feast. The kingdom of heaven is a party.

When looking for metaphors to illustrate the kingdom of heaven, Jesus chose joyful images such as banquets (Luke 14:15, 15:23) and wedding feasts (Matt. 22:2, 25:10). Our world can be dark and lonely, but the kingdom of heaven is like a great party to which you are invited.

The feast represents the abundance of God’s grace and his extravagant provision for your every need (Ps. 23:1, Matt. 6:33, Php. 4:19). The life God offers is not one of austere hardship but of righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom. 14:17). It is a life of abundance, overflowing with the “how much more” blessings of a generous Father (Matt. 7:11). As the psalmist said, those who take refuge in him feast on the abundance of his house and drink from the river of his delights (Ps. 36:8).

Further reading: “The Kingdom of Heaven is a Party


Matthew 22:3

“And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

(a) Slaves. The king’s slaves represent the Old Testament prophets, wise men, and scribes (Matt. 23:34) who proclaimed the coming Messiah and his kingdom. The original noun doulos describes someone who belongs to a master. See entry for Matt. 18:23.

(b) Call. The Greek verb kaleō means “to call” or “invite,” and it appears five times in this parable. It provides the theme of the story: God has called; will you come?

(c) Call… invited. The original words are the same. The slaves are sent to call those who had been called or invite those already invited. The invited guests had previously responded to a “save the date” invitation, agreeing to attend the king’s son’s wedding.

(d) Those who had been invited were the nobility and gentry of the kingdom. They were expected to attend, for a royal wedding was an occasion of political significance. Their presence demonstrates their allegiance to the king, which makes their refusals all the more shocking.

Those who were invited represent the Jews. Of all the tribes and nations, God chose the descendants of Abraham to be the first recipients of his favor. Through the law and the prophets, the Jews had been offered the best seats at the Messiah’s table. But when the Son came, many did not receive him. Metaphorically, they refused to join the kingdom party.

(e) They were unwilling. By refusing to honor the son, they dishonored the king (John 5:23).


Matthew 22:4

“Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’

(a) Other slaves. If the first group of slaves represents the Old Testament prophets and teachers, the second group is the gospel heralds of the New Testament. These include the twelve disciples sent by Jesus to the lost sheep of Israel, the seventy who were later commissioned, and those who spread the word after Pentecost (Matt. 10:5–6, Luke 10:1, Acts 1:8). Many messengers, one message: “Come, for everything is ready now.”

(b) Those who have been invited first were the Jews (see previous verse). Even after Christ was rejected and crucified, the invitations kept coming. God did not reject his people. Through his apostles and the New Testament believers, he kept reaching out to those in Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 1:8). The Jews were given many opportunities to take their place at the table, and many did (e.g., Acts 2:41, 4:4).

(c) Fattened livestock. The king is not angry at the initial rejections, but he woos his guests with a mouth-watering description of the feast that awaits them.

(d) Everything is ready means there is nothing to do except come.

Under the old covenant that God had with Israel, nothing was ever ready. There was always more to do, for the law makes nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19). But the message of the new covenant is “it is finished.” Because of Jesus, the work is done, and the table is ready.

(e) Come is the call to action of the new covenant (John 6:35, Heb. 4:16, Jas. 4:8). “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). In the old covenant, sinners dared not approach the Lord without a sacrifice or gift. But in the new covenant, we are encouraged to come just as we are. “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Is. 55:1).


Matthew 22:5

“But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,

(a) Paid no attention. The original verb ameleō means “to be negligent.” Those who were invited neglected the king’s invitation. The same word appears in Hebrews 2:3: “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” For three years, Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom all over Judea and Galilee, but many of the Jews remained indifferent and unrepentant (e.g., Matt. 11:20–24).

(b) Farm…business. Those who chose not to come were distracted by the cares and worries of life (Matt. 13:22).

This good king has summoned his guests twice, but they have turned their backs on him. We might imagine the king uttering these words of the Lord: “I have spread out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way, following their own thoughts” (Is. 65:2).


Matthew 22:6

and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

(a) The rest represent the leaders of Israel who killed and stoned the Lord’s messengers or prophets (Matt. 23:37, Acts 7:52).

(b) Mistreated them. God’s messengers were so often murdered that Jerusalem became known as “the city that kills the prophets” (Luke 13:34).

(c) Killed them. Incidents of God’s messengers being killed by the Jews are recorded in both the Old Testament (2 Chr. 24:20–21, Neh. 9:26, Jer. 26:20–23; see also Matt. 23:34–35) and the New Testament (Acts 7:58–59, 9:1–2, 12:1–3).


Matthew 22:7

“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

(a) The king was enraged. This good king is patient, but he has his limits. Kill his messengers and you’ll make him angry. Scorn his son and there will be consequences (see Heb. 10:29–31). In both the old covenant and the new, God is revealed as a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29). His fiery wrath is against his enemies and those things that harm his children.

Jesus is using a nonlinear style of storytelling. He wants the parable to finish with the feast, not the fire, so he briefly jumps ahead to describe how the king’s enemies will meet their end.

(b) His armies. The heavenly host or angels (Matt. 26:53, Luke 2:13).

(c) Destroyed those murderers. The wrath of the king refers to a coming day of wrath, when the angels will separate the righteous from the wicked (Matt. 13:39–40, Rom. 2:5) and fire will destroy all who are opposed to God (2 Pet. 3:7).

The fiery destruction of the murderers is not a picture of what God will do to sinners, for the king in the story is a friend of sinners. He invites them to his feast and blesses them with good things (verses 9–10). God’s wrath is not aimed at sinners but at the ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth (Rom. 1:18). His wrath is for those who defiantly oppose him, persecute his children, and kill his messengers.

(d) Destroyed. The original verb apollymi means “to destroy completely.” There is no possibility of restoration or return from such complete destruction. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the final or second death (Rev. 2:11; 21:8).

(e) Set their city on fire. The City of Man will be thoroughly destroyed.

God created humanity and entrusted us with the task of building a civilization. Tragically, sin corrupted that endeavor, which is why human civilization—the “City of Man” or Babylon—is broken and corrupt. While people can be saved, the satanic system that enslaves them cannot. One day it will be replaced by a new civilization, the City of God, also called the Jerusalem that comes down from above (Gal. 4:26, 2 Pet. 3:13, Rev. 21:1–2). The heavenly city is the true home of every believer.

Some claim that Jesus was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, interpreting the Roman siege as God’s wrath against the Jews for killing his Son. However, such an interpretation conflicts with the gospel of grace and the character of Christ. How could the One who said “love your enemies” then turn and burn them? Jesus died for the Jews—they didn’t die for him.

The destroyed city is not Jerusalem, the Catholic Church, or America. It represents the City of Man, which stands in opposition to Zion, the heavenly City of God (Heb. 13:14, Rev. 18:2). It represents the fallen kingdoms of earth that defy the everlasting kingdom of God. The City of Man is Satan’s home from where he has exported untold misery and pain. In it lies “the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth” (Rev. 18:24). This bloodstained town is the home of hurt and the seat of suffering. At the end of days, the King of kings will send forth his heavenly armies and burn that hellish city.

Further reading: “The City of Man

(f) Fire. Jesus often spoke of fire in connection with Judgment Day (Matt. 5:22, 13:42, 18:9, Luke 17:29–30). He didn’t fear this fire; he looked forward to it. He knew that it would spell the end of sin and ungodliness and usher in the eternal age. “How I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). After the fires of judgment have purged the earth, the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matt. 13:43).


Matthew 22:8

“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

(a) His slaves. In this part of the story, the slaves represent the gospel heralds who go out into the world, inviting all to the kingdom.

(b) Wedding. The wedding is ready, and the kingdom is now. Jesus is not talking about some end of day’s event, but the present reality of his heavenly kingdom breaking out in the world.

(c) Those who were invited refer to the unbelieving Jews; see entry for Matt. 22:3.

(d) Not worthy. What made them unworthy was their rejection of the king’s invitation. In the same way, those who refuse God’s call to believe in his Son—like the chief priests and elders listening to Jesus—judge themselves unworthy of eternal life (Acts 13:46).

Although the invited guests refused to come, the king does not withdraw his invitation. The Jews rejected God, but God did not reject them (Rom. 11:1–2). His gifts and calling are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). The Father’s heart is always for reconciliation and restoration, and his door remains open to all.


Matthew 22:9

‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

(a) Highways. The king sends his heralds to the highways and byways so that the good news of his invitation may reach every corner of the earth. He does not limit his invitation to a privileged few but offers it to all, near and far, so that the wedding hall may be filled.

In the parallel parable of the Great Banquet, the master tells his slave to “go into the streets and lanes” to find the misfits and the homeless (Luke 14:21). The slave is instructed to find those who would have been excluded from old covenant rituals. “Find the lame camped outside the temple, and the poor who have no sacrifice to bring. Find the cripple who needs friends to carry him and the blind man who needs to be led, and bring them to my party.”

(b) As many as you find. The initial invitation was for those who had been called (the Jews), but now the invitation goes out to all (the Gentiles as well). Indiscriminate hospitality is not the practice of earthly kings, but it is the policy of heaven. All may come to the Lord’s Table regardless of their pedigree, privilege, or performance.

(c) Invite to the wedding feast. The gospel message can be expressed as an invitation: God is throwing a party. Will you come? You may say, “I dare not darken God’s door. I’m filthy and have nothing to wear.” And the gospel messenger replies, “The Lord will clothe you and provide everything you need. Just come.”


Matthew 22:10

“Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

(a) Slaves. The messengers of the new covenant; see entry for Matt. 22:8.

(b) Streets. In Luke’s version of the story, the master commands his slave to go out into “the highways and along the hedges” (Luke 14:22–23). He is so determined to fill his hall that he will leave no road unvisited and no shrub unturned. “Compel them to come,” says the master to the slave (Luke 14:23). “Be persuasive. Don’t take no for an answer.” This king is relentless in his quest to share his joy.

(c) Both evil and good. Man-made religion says you need to clean yourself before approaching a holy God, but the gospel of grace declares, “Come as you are.” This is the good news that drew the tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners to Jesus. All are welcome at the House of Grace. All may call on the Name of the Lord and be saved (Rom. 10:13).

The kingdom of heaven is the easiest country to enter. There are no passport controls, visa requirements, quotas, background checks, vaccinations, dress codes, or barriers of any kind. Whoever you are and whatever you’ve done, you are welcome at the invitation of the King.

(d) The wedding hall was filled. The king’s persistence pays off, and his hall is filled with all kinds of people, both good and bad.

The God who sees the end from the beginning always planned to include the Gentiles in his redemptive plan (Matt. 8:11). God’s house will be filled with an uncountable multitude of people, from every race, tribe, and nation (Rev. 7:9).


Matthew 22:11

“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

(a) Look over. The king comes to meet and greet his guests.

This is not a military inspection to see who passes muster. What’s there to inspect? The king has invited people without any regard for their merit or appearance. By design, his hall is full of all sorts—rich and poor, oddballs and slackers, Goths and geeks. There are socialists and libertarians, hunters and vegans, rule-keepers and rule-breakers. There are people who wouldn’t dream of cheating on their taxes, and others who shamelessly park in handicapped spaces. Some have come from miles away, while others have blown in from the highways and hedges (Luke 14:23). Most have never set foot inside a palace. The king is not there to judge but to welcome, to see who has answered his call, and to put his guests at ease.

(b) Not dressed in wedding clothes. None of the guests expected to attend a royal wedding, so none had the proper attire. The king invited them, so the king had to clothe them. In the same way, God cleanses and clothes us so that we may take our place at his table without shame or condemnation (Gal. 3:27, 1 John 1:9).

Yet there is one guest who refuses to wear the king’s clothes. Shabby and smelly, he stands out like a beggar among the finely dressed crowd. When the other guests tell him the king’s robes are free, he dismisses them with scorn. “I don’t need to change.” He is the one who hears the good news and decides it is for other people. “Grace is for losers, but I’m fine as I am.” The unrepentant man, however, is far from fine. Everything he touches becomes dirty, and his odor is stinking up the royal hall. Something will have to be done.


Matthew 22:12

and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

(a) Friend. Although the man’s appearance is scandalous, the king gives him a chance to explain himself. Such is the grace of the good king.

The Greek word for “friend” (hetairos) appears three times in Matthew. Each time, it is used ironically to address someone behaving in a dishonorable or unfriendly way (Matt. 20:13, 22:12, 26:50).

(b) Without wedding clothes. When we come to the kingdom, the Lord clothes us with the garments of salvation and the robes of his righteousness (Is. 61:10). But the unrepentant man prefers the soiled and smelly garments of his own self-righteousness. “I need nothing from the Lord.” His pride will be his downfall.

(c) Speechless. A humble man would have cried, “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I have sinned.” But this man is too proud to bend the knee. He is muzzled by sin and condemned by his haughty silence.


Matthew 22:13

“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

(a) The servants. The servants (diakonos) who bind the man are not the slaves (doulos) who go out with the king’s invitation, for a different word is used. Our role as ambassadors is to proclaim the good news. It is not our job to bind people or pull the proverbial weeds from the harvest field (Matt. 13:28–29).

(b) Bind him hand and foot. The binding of the proud man symbolizes his bondage to sin (John 8:34). As surely as dead Lazarus was bound hand and foot, he remains dead in sin.

The paradox is that although sinners are welcome in the House of Grace, there are no sinners in the House of Grace. There are just former sinners who were washed, sanctified, and made new by the blood of Jesus (1 Cor. 6:11).

Further reading: “No liars in heaven

(c) Outer darkness. Outside the kingdom (see Luke 13:28). Darkness is the natural habitat of those who reject the light of the gospel (John 3:19).

The bound man is ejected from the party. Outside in the cold and darkness, he may hear the laughter and music, but he will not take part in the king’s celebration. This is a prophetic picture of what will happen to the leaders of Israel.

The chief priests, elders, and Pharisees thought they were at the center of God’s will. But in the Book of Acts, they watched from the sidelines as God revealed his glorious power through the New Testament church. The old men of the Sanhedrin heard about the miracles that were happening right outside their doors. They listened in astonishment as unschooled men proclaimed profound spiritual truths. These men who rejected Jesus had become mere spectators, fading into obscurity. (The original word for darkness (skotos) means “shade” or “obscurity.”)

(d) Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus is describing how the religious Jews will react when they find themselves outside the kingdom instead of seated at the table. They will be upset and grind their teeth in anger. “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out” (Luke 13:28). See also the entry for Matt. 13:42.


Matthew 22:14

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

(a) Many are called. The “many” who are called are the Jews. “Israel whom I called” (Is. 48:12).

(b) Few are chosen. Relatively few Jews responded in faith to the good news of the kingdom. Although the Book of Acts records that thousands turned to the Lord in faith (e.g., Acts 2:41, 4:4), this was a small number compared to the many who did not believe.

(c) Chosen. God’s call goes out to all, but not all respond. Those who do are called the elect or chosen. “For you are a chosen generation” (1 Pet. 2:9). In a manner of speaking, the chosen choose themselves. But since the Lord initiates the call, it’s accurate to say we are God’s chosen. “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). In the New Testament, believers are referred to as the elect or chosen of God (Rom. 8:33, Col. 3:12, Tit. 1:1).

Some people worry that God is selective about who enters the kingdom. “Only a few qualify.” But the king in the story was indiscriminate. He welcomed people of all stripes, both good and bad. And so does Jesus.

A few days after he told this parable, Jesus was crucified. Then, on the evening of his resurrection, he told his disciples to take the gospel to all nations (Luke 24:47). From that moment, the doors of the kingdom have stood wide open. Every one of us has been invited to the Lord’s great feast.


Matthew 22:19

“Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius.

Show me… a denarius. Those who were trying to trap Jesus found themselves trapped. Why were these religious men carrying coins with the image of Caesar in the temple? Had they forgotten that the Ten Commandments forbade all graven images (Ex. 20:4)?


Matthew 22:20

And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

Whose likeness. In other words, “Whose graven image are you holding there, you lawbreakers?”


Matthew 22:29

But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Scriptures. In the New Testament, “Scripture” refers to the Hebrew Scriptures a.k.a. the Old Testament. The Jews placed enormous significance on the written words of Scripture – the law, the psalms and the prophets (e.g., Jos. 1:8, 8:31). This reliance on the written word was carried over into the New Testament by the Gospel writers (e.g., Matt. 2:5, Mark 1:2, Luke 3:4, John 6:31), Peter (Acts 1:20, 1 Pet. 1:16, 2:6), Stephen (Acts 7:42), James (Acts 15:15, Jas. 2:8, 23, 4:5) and Jesus himself (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10, 21:42, John 7:38, 10:34–35, 13:18). The devil also quoted scripture on occasion (Matt. 4:6). But no one quoted the old scriptures more than Paul (Acts 13:33, 23:5, Rom. 1:17, 3:4, 10, 4:17, 8:36, 9:13, 33, 10:15, 11:8, 26, 12:19, 14:11, 15:3, 9, 21, 1 Cor. 1:19, 31, 2:9, 3:19, 9:9–10, 10:7, 14:21, 15:45, 2 Cor. 8:15, 9:9, Gal. 3:10, 13, 4:22, 27, Heb. 10:7).


Matthew 22:35

One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him,

A lawyer was an expert in the Law of Moses. Mark refers to this lawyer as a scribe suggesting there was little difference between the two occupations (Mark 12:28).


Matthew 22:36

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

The Law refers to the law of Moses. See entry for The Law.


Matthew 22:37

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.’

(a) Love the Lord. Under the old law-keeping covenant, you were commanded to love the Lord your God with all your heart (Deut. 6:5, 10:12). The flow was from you to the Lord. But in the new covenant of grace, we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is because we know the love of Christ (Eph. 3:19) that we are able to walk in his love (Eph. 5:2), keep ourselves in his love (Jude 1:21), and remain in his love (John 15:9, 10, 1 John 4:12, 16).

(b) The Lord your God. Most of the time when Jesus spoke about God, he called him Father (see entry for Luke 2:49). But when speaking to those under the law, he sometimes called him Lord and God.

(c) With all your soul. The original word for soul is psuche, from which we get the word psychology. This word is sometimes used in scripture to describe the soul-life we inherited from Adam, as opposed to the zoe- or spirit-life we receive from Jesus. See entry for New Life.


Matthew 22:38

“This is the great and foremost commandment.

It is the first and greatest of the Ten Commandments, but it is not the law of Christ. (see entry for John 13:34).


Matthew 22:39

“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

(a) Love your neighbor. This law, which comes from the law of Moses (Lev. 19:18), was quoted by Jesus more than once (Matt. 19:19, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27). James called it the royal law (see entry for Jas. 2:8).

Further reading: “Is ‘love your neighbor’ part of the new covenant?

(b) As yourself. “Loving others as yourself” can be contrasted with “Loving others as I have loved you” (see entry for John 13:34).

Under the old covenant, you provided the love and whatever else was needed to fulfil the law. But in the new covenant, we are able to love others because of the love we have from God (1 John 4:19). Under the old, you were the supply, but in the new, God supplies all our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:19).


Matthew 22:40

“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The Law refers to the Law of Moses, the commandments, ordinances, punishments, and ceremonial observances given to the nation of Israel through Moses (Jos. 8:31). This law is sometimes referred to as the law of commandments (Eph. 2:15) or the law of the Jews (Acts 25:8). See entry for The Law.


Matthew 22:42

“What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”

(a) Whose son is He? The religious leaders expected the Messiah to be born in the line of David.

(b) The son of David was another name for the Messiah. See entry for Matt. 1:1.


Matthew 22:43

He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

Lord. Fathers don’t call their sons Lord, yet David referred to the Messiah as Lord in the psalms (see next verse).


Matthew 22:44

‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”’?

(a) The Lord. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 to show that David referred to the Messiah as Lord.

(b) Sit at my right hand. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he was exalted and given a Name above all names and now he sits at the right hand of God (Eph. 1:20, Php. 2:9, Col. 3:1). This right hand seat is not merely a place of high honor, or the second seat. It is the place of power (Mark 26:64) and intimacy (Acts 2:25). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). The Son shares his Father’s throne.

The vindicating image of the One who was rejected by men being exalted to the right hand of God is repeated all through the New Testament (Matt. 26:64, Mark 12:36, 14:62, 16:19, Luke 20:42, 22:69, Acts 2:25, 33, 34, 5:31, 7:55, 56, Rom. 8:34, Eph. 1:20, Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3, 13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 Pet. 3:22).

(c) Enemies. God the Father says to God the Son, “You have been rejected and despised by men, but you are the conquering King. Now sit with me and watch as I subdue your enemies.”


Matthew 22:45

“If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

See entry for Matt. 22:43.


Matthew 22:46

No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

The Messiah is more than David’s descendent, he is David’s Lord. He is more than the Son of David, he is the Son of God.



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2 comments

  1. Hi Paul, just a small typo. In Matt 22:44(b) – “I ‘am’ the Father are one” (Jn 10:30). ‘am’ should be ‘and’. Blessings, Steve

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