Introductory remarks:
This chapter is a continuation from the last chapter. In this chapter Jesus gives the parable of the marriage feast for the king's son; Jesus answers the Herodians, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. In this chapter the Lord continues His dialogue with the chief priests and elders even after they sought to lay hands on Him in order to kill him; they thought better of it because they feared the people who regarded Christ as a prophet from God.
The Parable of the Marriage Feast
(Luke 14:24)
Verse 1, "And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables. And said"
LGT "And Jesus answering them again, spoke to them in parables, saying,"
Jesus continues His preaching in parables to the religious rulers, teaching them about the requirements of the entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.
Verse 2, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son."
LGT "The kingdom of the heavens has become like to a man, a king, who made a marriage feast for his son."
The certain king is God the Father, and His son of course is Jesus Christ. The marriage feast is likened unto the kingdom of heaven on earth; the Church has already been joined to Christ in heaven, and now here on earth in the Kingdom of God, the millennium, only those who have prepared themselves, by accepting Christ as Savior, are allowed to enter.
Verse 3, "And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."
LGT "And he sent out his servants to call the called who had been invited unto the feast, and they would not come."
God sent His prophets in the OT and His apostles in the NT to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but they refused to come; they could have come, but they refused, it all is determined by the will of man. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11).
A.T. Robertson adds:
"To call them that were bidden is literally, to call the called. It was a Jewish custom to invite a second time the already invited (Esther 5:8; 6:14). The prophets of old had given God's invitation to the Jewish people. Now the Baptist and Jesus had given the second invitation that the feast was ready. And they would not come (Kai ouk ethelon eithein). This negative imperfect characterizes the stubborn refusal of the Jewish leaders to accept Jesus as God's Son (John 1:11). This is the Hebrew Tragedy."
Verse 4, "Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage."
LGT "Again, he sent another servant, saying, Say to them who have been invited, Behold, my dinner [mid-day meal] is prepared, my oxen and the fatling is killed, and all things [are] ready: come to the wedding feast."
"Again, he sent forth other servants,"
These other servants refer to the apostles who followed Jesus in preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, giving the Jews another chance to repent and be saved.
"Saying, Tell them which are bidden,"
As was pointed out in the last verse it was a Jewish custom to invite twice; they had already been bidden to the feats, and now they are urged again to come.
"Behold, I have prepared my dinner:"
The Greek word for dinner is ariston, meaning the first meal 'breakfast.' It is extended to mean the mid-day meal or luncheon, as it is used here.
"My oxen and my fatling are killed, and all things are ready:"
The word 'fatlings' does not refer to any particular animal and as Barnes notes: the oxen has already been mentioned, it probably refers to lambs or calves.
"Come unto to the marriage."
Literally come unto the feast. "God sent other servants in His chosen apostles and His own Son. They brought a more urgent and explicit invitation. They were more aggressive in their manner and preached a complete Gospel. But the result of their preaching was no better than their predecessors" (Shepherd).
Verse 5, "But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:"
LGT "But they, disregarding [it], went away, one to his own field, and another to his commerce."
"But they made light of it,"
The literal rendering is they disregarded it and went their way; Robertson says, "To neglect an invitation to a wedding feast is a gross discourtesy."
"And went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:"
One went to his farm, the other to his place of business, probably a drummer, showing their complete disregard for the invitation of the king.
Barnes notes:
"They treated the invitation with contempt, as a thing of no consequence - an exact representation of the conduct of sinners in regard to the Gospel. One to his farm. So men engaged so much in their worldly employment that they pretend they have no time to attend to religion. The world is, in their view, of more value than God. Merchandise. Traffic; trading."
Verse 6, "And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them."
LGT "And the rest, having laid hold of his servants, insulted and killed [them]."
The result was that they killed the Christ, and then His messengers, the apostles, and then it went on and on throughout the first church.
Some of the antagonist was satisfied with just insulting the Christians, but the 'remnant' was the ones who were so infuriated that they laid hands on them and actually killed them. The reason Christians are mistreated by unbelievers is not because they are Christians, but because the message the have; the unbeliever behaves so radically against believers, because they hate the God of the message and not the messenger. If we lived truly Christ-like the world would crucify us the same as they did Christ.
Verse 7, "But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city."
LGT "But the king was angry and having sent his forces he destroyed those murderers, and their city he burned."
This has reference to God allowing the Roman army under Titus to sack Jerusalem and completely destroy the city in AD. 70, and scatter the Jews to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Verse 8, "Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy."
LGT "Then he says to his servants, The wedding feast is indeed ready, but the ones who were invited are not worthy."
The Pharisees who had been invited, refused to accept the King, and therefore they are not allowed to enter the kingdom of God, they were not worthy.
Verse 9, "Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye find, bid to the marriage."
LGT "Go therefore into the thoroughfares of the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite them to the wedding feast."
This verse is referring to the Gospel going out after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; the Jews had refused His invitation, and God had allowed the Roman army to completely destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jews throughout the world, and now the Gospel has been offered to the Gentiles. When Christ first sent His apostles out they were only to go the lost sheep of the house of Israel; now they are to go into the entire world.
Verse 10, "So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests."
LGT "And those servants having gone out into the highways gathered together all they found, both evil and good: and the wedding feast became full of guests."
The servants went out into all walks of life, not just to the chosen few.
"And gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good:"
None are good naturally; the gospel went out to the tax-gathers, harlots, and robbers, to the merchant as well as the seaman; it went to all freely.
"And the wedding was furnished with guests."
As many as accepted Christ as the Messiah from the entire world would enter the Kingdom of God, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Verse 11, "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment."
LGT "And the king coming in to see the guests, he beheld [upon inspection] there a man not clothed with [the] wedding garment."
This verse is difficult for me to interpret, because, as has been mentioned, the king represents God, and the wedding feast represents the kingdom; now, how is it that an unbeliever that comes to the feast dressed in his own self-righteousness, is allowed in? Because he refuses the wedding garment; the wedding garment represents 'free-grace Salvation,' that is, the imputed righteousness of Christ; so how does he enter? Joseph Dillow in The Reign of the Servant Kings says that the wedding feast is not the kingdom but a special feast for believers only, and that this one that came to the wedding feast is an immature believer; he teaches that the both good and bad in the previous verse refers to mature and immature believers. (This explanation is much too forced for me to believe, because Dillow does not explain verse seven, and therefore blows his theory out of the water. Now, the best I can come up with is that this verse is referring to the end of the Millennial Reign at the Great white throne judgment, when all will stand before God, both small and great; there will be many that are born during the millennium that will not believe; and also Christ is making a comparison of the righteousness of man and the righteousness of Christ. Jesus is making a simple point that a man must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, and He is not giving the doctrine of the eschatology of the church.
Verse 12, "And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless."
LGT "And he says to him, Friend, How did you enter here not having a garment of the wedding feast? But he was silent."
This verse also simply makes the point that without the garment of the righteousness of Christ it is impossible to enter the Kingdom; it does not mean that a man will be able to enter and then be turned into hell; it means that he will in no way be allowed to enter. When the unbeliever stands before Christ at the Great White Throne they will be speechless, in that they will have no righteousness of Christ to claim; the believers will not stand before this judgment seat, but we will all stand before Christ's 'Bema Seat.'
Verse 13, "Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
LGT "Then the king said to the servants, Having bound his feet and hands, cast [him] out into the outer darkness: there will be wailing and the gnashing of the teeth."
This verse is descriptive of where all unbelief will eventually end up for all eternity; the description of weeping and wailing and gnashing of the teeth could only be of the unbeliever; Dillow says that this is the description of the immature loser believer in the kingdom; however, we must remember that God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, and as Theime points out, 'No regrets!'
Verse 14, "For many are called, but few are chosen."
LGT "For many are called, but few chosen."
The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The call went out to the entire world, but only the ones who respond to the call are chosen.
Barnes notes:
"Our Savior often uses this expression. It was probably proverbial. The Jews had been called, but few of them had been chosen to life. The great mass of the nation was wicked, and they showed by their lives that they were not chosen to salvation. The Gentiles also were invited to be saved Isaiah 45:22. Nation after nation has been called; but few, few have yet showed that they were real Christians, the elect of God. It is also true that many who are in the church may prove to be without the wedding garment, and show at last that they were not the chosen of God. This remark in the 14th verse is the inference from the whole parable, and not of the part about the man without the wedding garment. It does not mean, therefore, that the great mass in the church are simply called and not chosen, or are hypocrites; but the great mass in the human family, in the time of Christ, who had been called, had rejected the mercy of God."
Paying Taxes to Caesar
(Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26)
Verse 15, "Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk."
LGT "Then the Pharisees having gone, took council how they might ensnare Him in discourse."
Here again we have the Pharisees putting their heads together to try and ensnare Christ in His speech; they would certainly need more than the cunning these men had.
Verse 16, "And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men."
LGT "And they send to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth, and there is care concerning no one: for You do not look on [the] appearance of man."
"And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians,"
These disciples were the students of the Pharisees; there were two theological seminaries in Jerusalem; that of Hillel, and the other of Shammai. The Herodians were not of the family of the Herods, but followers of Herod.
Saying, Master, we know that thou art true,"
They certainly did know that Christ was true, but they were having no part of Him; this was just a hypocritical left-handed compliment; they were attempting a little psychology here.
"And teachest the way of God in truth,"
These disciples were taught well by the Pharisees, however as noted above, their sincerity was purely a façade for their stupidity.
"Neither carest thou for any man:"
This phrase is stating that Christ is not a respecter of persons. That is, He did not look at the value of the man by his station in society. He did not cater to the rich and famous. He did not reverence the religious leaders.
"For thou regardest not the person of men."
"Thou art not partial. Thou wilt decide according to truth, and not from any bias toward either party. To regard the person, or to respect the person, is in the Bible uniformly used to denote partiality, or being influenced in a decision, not by truth, but by previous attachment to a person, or to one of the parties - by friendship, or bias, or prejudice" (Barnes).
Verse 17, "Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?"
LGT "Tell us therefore, What do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?"
This question was designed to condemn the Lord; it was a trick question. "If He had said, No, you are not to pay tribute to Caesar, He could be accused of being a traitor to Rome, and Rome was ruling over Israel at that time. If He had said, Yes, you are to pay tribute to Caesar, He could not be the true Messiah. They thought they had our Lord on the horns of a dilemma" (McGee).
Verse 18, "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?"
LGT "But Jesus knowing their evil, said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites?"
These religious pharisaical disciples and young followers of Herod, under the mask of pretending to admire Jesus, actually were hypocrites seeking to ensnare Him; however, He, being omniscient, saw through their little game, and called them what they were, hypocrites.
Verse 19, "Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny."
LGT "Show Me the coin of the tribute. And they presented to Him a denarius."
The Greek word for 'tribute' is kensus, "Latin census, was a capitation tax or head-money, tributum capitis, for which silver denaria were struck, with the figure of Caesar and a superscription, e.g. Tiberiou Kaisaros. Nomisma is the Latin numisma and occurs here only in the N.T., is common in the Old Greek, from nomizo sanctioned by law or custom" (Robertson).
Verse 20, "And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?"
LGT "And He says to them, Whose [is] this image and the inscription?"
"Images on coins were not approved by the Jews. Out of respect to this prejudice none of the earlier Herods had his own image impressed on them. Herod Agrippa I., who murdered James and imprisoned Peter, introduced the practice. The coin shown to Christ must either have been struck in Rome, or else was one of the Tetrarch Philip, who was the first to introduce the image of Caesar on strictly Jewish coins" (Vincent).
Verse 21, "They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
LGT "They say to Him, Caesar's. Then He says to them, Give back therefore the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God."
"They say unto him, Caesar's."
It was Caesar's picture on his coin, and it belongs to Caesar, no argument from the Lord.
"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."
The Greek word for 'Render' is apodote, an imperfect aorist, from apodidomi meaning to give back what is his.
This is literally, give back to Caesar the things that are already Caesar's, and equally, to God the things of God. Some preachers will say that we are to pay our taxes like good little citizens, and also to give our tithes as good little Christians. I believe Christ is speaking much deeper as we will see from the context; I believe God wants all of us, for 'we are not our own, we have been bought with a price.'
Verse 22, "When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left him, and went their way."
LGT "And having heard, they wondered, and leaving Him, went away."
The Greek word for 'marveled' is ethaumasan, meaning to be astonished or in wonderment; they were not able to convict Him as they had planned, and so all they could do is tuck their tails between their legs and scurry off, like the cowards they were.
The Question about the Resurrection
(Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-40)
Verse 23, "The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,"
LGT "On that day came the Sadducees, saying, there is not a resurrection, and they questioned Him,"
The next attack comes from the Sadducees who differed from the Pharisees in many ways; however, they were all 'whitewashed sepulchers.'
Shepherd writes about these differences:
"The Sadducees were Nationalists and did not believe in angels or any invisible powers, nor in the resurrection. Their main dispute with the Pharisees was as to whether the oral tradition was binding. The Pharisees held it of equal value with the written law; the Sadducees said that everything not written might be rejected or was at least open to question. They considered the doctrine of the resurrection a mere matter of pious opinion. They said the doctrine was without authority in the written law, especially since, in their opinion, the prophets were not of equal value with Pentateuch."
Verse 24, Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother."
LGT "Saying, Teacher, Moses said, If any one should die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and shall raise up seed to his brother."
The Sadducees were quoting from Deuteronomy 25:5, 6: If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry [outside the family] unto a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him as his wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And it shall be, that the first-born whom she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. "This law was given by Moses in order to keep the families and tribes of the Israelites distinct, and to perpetuate them. Raise up seed unto his brother, that is, the children shall be reckoned in the genealogy of the deceased brother; or, to all civil purposes, shall be considered his" (Barnes).
Verses 25-28, "Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: like wise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her."
LGT "Now there were with us seven brothers: and the first having married died, and not having seed, left his wife to his brother: in this manner also the second, and the third, unto the seven. And last of all the woman died. Therefore, in the resurrection, which of the seven shall she be wife?"
The Sadducees were asking a hypothetical question in order to discredit the resurrection. They knew that Jesus taught that there definitely was a resurrection: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Also in John 11:25, Jesus claimed to be the resurrection and the Life: I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." McGee says that the question from the Sadducees was ridiculous, that seven brothers marrying the first brother's wife could only happen in Hollywood.
Verse 29, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God."
LGT "And Jesus answering said to them, You are deceived, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."
Not knowing the Scriptures is the reason for all deception; it is one thing to read the Bible, and another thing to understand the Bible. These Sadducees were the experts in the Law, and Christ tells them they were ignorant of it, and that they did not really know the Law. They had witnessed the power of God in Jesus healing the sick, and even raising the dead, and yet they were deliberately ignorant of God's power, that is, they completely rejected Christ as the Messiah. Even today, we have never witnessed divine healings from Christ or His disciples, but we have the Scriptures that say they did, and we believe them because we are not deliberately ignorant of the Word of God. Ignorance also takes the form of the pretender who claims to have seen all that the apostolic age disciples saw; these charlatans will never admit that they are lying, because they would lose their source of income. Deception comes in two obvious ways 1) ignorance of Bible Doctrine, and 2) adding to and taking away from Bible Doctrine.
Verse 30, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."
LGT "For in the resurrection, neither do they marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in the heavens."
The Sadducees showed their complete natural viewpoint regarding the human relationships we have here on earth; they could not believe in the resurrection from strictly human wisdom or viewpoint; when the believer is resurrected, all things are become new; new bodies, new desires, new viewpoint.
Edersheim notes:
"Nor ought questions here rise, like dark clouds, such as of the perpetuity of those relations which on earth are not only so precious to us, but so holy. Assuredly, they will endure, as all that is of God and good; only what in them is earthly will cease, or rather be transformed with the body. Nay, and we shall also recognize each other, not only by the fellowship of the soul; but as, even now, the mind impresses its stamp on the features, so then, when all shall be quite true, shall the soul, so to speak, body itself forth, fully impress itself on outward appearance, and for the first time shall we then fully recognize those whom we shall fully know - with all of earth that was in them left behind, and all of God and good fully developed and ripened into perfection of beauty."
Shepherd adds:
"The Sadducees were not able to bring themselves to believe in the superior spiritual conditions of the resurrected life. In the life to come, those who attain to the resurrection will not marry or be given in marriage, but will be like the angels. Incidentally, Jesus asserted the existence of spiritual beings in the future life, which doctrine the Sadducees did not accept. He did not mean that there would be no personal recognition in Heaven, or continuance of the spiritual relationships formed in the world. Such relationships will be immediately heightened and rendered infinitely more delightful and profitable. In this life, marriage is for the propagation of the race. No such necessity in Heaven."
Verses 31, 32, "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 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."
LGT "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not [the] God of dead ones, but of living ones."
The Scripture Christ quotes is from Exodus 3:6, 15. If God is alive, so is everyone who has ever lived still alive; man was created in the image of God, and God is certainly alive today; if God were dead, this universe would completely disappear, for God is the One who sustains and keeps this universe running. Everyone who has ever lived, from Adam unto the last member of the human race will never die, because God can never die; we are in His image, in His likeness; our human bodies will disappear in order to make way for our new creation bodies; this mortal body will take on immortality, and this corruption will take on incorruption, in order that our eternal spirits can be properly housed. To not believe in the resurrection from the dead as these Sadducees, we could not believe in God; the God they claim to believe in is dead, or else they would have to believe in the resurrection; if Christ were not raised from the dead ones, all our hopes are gone.
Pentecost writes:
"Christ showed that those who professed reverence for the law and showed their respect for it by quoting it on this occasion were really ignorant of what the law taught. Jesus quoted what God had said to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The force of Christ's argument turned on the present tense of the verb I am. God should have said I was, if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, were now dead, and there was no resurrection. But since God said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He was testifying to their existence and the ultimate resurrection of their bodies. There could be no doubt but that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died physically when God spoke these words to Moses. But God's words indicated that they were alive and there would be a bodily resurrection. Christ not only affirmed the fact of resurrection but indicated something of the nature of life in resurrection when He said, People will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. This statement was designed to refute the false concept of the Sadducees concerning the nature of life in resurrection that led them to repudiate the doctrine.
Verse 33, "And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine."
LGT "And having heard, the crowds were astonished by His doctrine."
The crowds were astonished; not because they heard it for the first time, but because they heard from the lips of "The Resurrection and the Life." The tense of the verb 'astonished', being an imperfect tense, signifies that they were continuing in there amazement; as Robertson states, "They literally struck out."
The Great Commandment
(Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28)
Verse 34, "But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together."
LGT "But the Pharisees, having heard that He silenced the Sadducees, were gathered together."
The Pharisees were very pleased that Christ muzzled the Sadducees, and now they are going to give it a try to ensnare the Lord. By silencing the Sadducees in regard to the resurrection, the Pharisees, who believe in life after death, thought they might have somewhat of an ally in the lord; one possibility, that He would not be quite as hard on them as He was the Sadducees.
Verses 35, 36, "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
LGT "And one of them questioned [Him], a doctor of the law, tempting Him; Teacher, which commandment [is] great in the law?"
The Pharisees gather together and decide that they were best fitted if they send a lawyer [one well versed in the Mosaic Law] to Christ, for surely he will be able to best the Lord. The question which commandment is great or "What kind of commandment must it be to constitute it a great one? Not, which commandment is greatest as compared with the others? The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts. As many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year; the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue [Ten Commandments]. Of these they called some light and some heavy. Some thought that the law about the fringes on the garments was the greatest; some that the omission of washings was as bad as homicide; some that the third commandment was the greatest. It was in view of this kind of distinction that the scribe asked the question; not as desiring a declaration as to which commandment was the greatest, but as wanting to know the principle upon which a commandment was to be regarded as a great commandment" (Vincent).
Verses 37, 38, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."
LGT "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."
The first all important requirement for a man to keep the law (an utter impossibility, I might add] was toward God; he is required to love God with all his being; nothing short of this is acceptable with God; this is why we need Christ's imputed righteousness, because it is impossible to keep. The Pharisees were hoping that Christ would have more insight into the law than they did. This love for God, as Pentecost notes, is all-inclusive; if they could keep this commandment, they could easily keep all the others.
Verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
LGT "And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The Greek word for 'neighbor' is plesion and it means a near or friendly neighbor; I believe that I can safely say, without too much opposition, except from the Pentecostals, that with John's teaching, and Paul's instructions in mind, this is brother love, and not philos, love for the human race; I believe we are to love our fellow man as a creation of God, but we are to love our fellow Christian as a joint heir with Christ, that is, as a family member; the unbeliever is our neighbor in that he is a fellow member of the human race; but our fellow-Christian is a family member and a joint-heir with Christ. The second command of loving the brother is impossible without keeping the most important command of loving God with all our being.
Verse 40. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
LGT "On these two commandments, all the law and the prophets hang."
This is the ultimate 'law of love' that the entire OT pointed; as has been stated before, if a man were to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind, and if he would love his brother as he loved himself, the remainder of the law would be taken care of. Moses gave them the Ten Commandments 'as a schoolmaster, pedagogos, to bring them to Christ.
The Question about David's Son
(Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)
Verses 41, 42 "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David."
LGT "And having been assembled together, Jesus questioned them, saying, What do you think concerning the Christ? Of whom Son is He? They say to Him, Of David."
"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,"
"Jesus, having confounded the great sects of the Jews, proceeds, in his turn, to propose to them a question for their solution. This was done, not for the purpose of vain parade and triumph, but, 1st. To show them how ignorant they were of the prophecies. 2nd. To humble them in view of their ignorance. 3rd. To bring to their attention the true doctrine respecting the Messiah - his being possessed of a character superior to that of David, the most mighty king of Israel - being his Lord, at the same time that he was his descendant" (Barnes).
"Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?"
This is a pungent [overpowering] question concerning His being the predicted Messiah. Pentecost says, "The adversaries of Christ were the aggressors in the foregoing conflict, but we find that Christ now became the aggressor and presented a question to the Pharisees. It was a question concerning the person of Messiah."
"They say unto him, The son of David."
The Pharisees showed that they knew the OT Scriptures (2 Sam. 7:14; Isa. 11:1), for they answered immediately; Christ perceived they would know the answer.
Verses 43, 44, "He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?"
LGT "He says to them, How then does David by the Spirit call Him Lord, saying, [The] Lord said to my Lord,
Sit on My right hand,
Until I place Your enemies [as] a footstool for Your feet."
"How then doth David in spirit call him Lord,"
If Christ were a mere human descendant of human parents how could King David, in spirit, that is, by inspiration of the Spirit, call Him Lord? The Son would have to be supernaturally 'the Son of God' for David to call Him Lord. Jesus quotes from a well-known Messianic Psalm (Psa. 110:1). This Psalm is also a prophetic Psalm in that it reveals what will happen after Christ is risen and takes His proper seat at the right hand of the Father, and at the final 'Day of the Lord' Christ will rise up and destroy all the Christ rejecting nations of the world at the end of the Millennium.
Verse 45, "If David call him Lord, how is he his son?"
LGT "If therefore David call Him Lord, how is He his Son?"
What a magnificent question Christ asked. How could these self-righteous Jews handle this dilemma; it seems that the only way they could possibly respond was to admit that our Christ is God of very God.
"The Psalm taught the true humanity and true deity of Messiah. It was just such a claim as the psalmist foretold of Messiah that Jesus made for Himself. If the Pharisees answered that David called Him his Lord because He is God, then they could not object to Christ, David's Son according to the flesh, claiming to be the Son of God. If they agreed that Messiah was to be truly human and truly God, they must cease their objection to Christ's claim concerning His person. The Pharisees realized the dilemma that faced them and refused to answer" (Pentecost).
McGee adds:
"There are several implications in this question which are tremendous. Our Lord said that David wrote Psalm 110, that he wrote it by the Holy Spirit. And that he wrote it about the Messiah. 'If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?' How could David call his son superior unless He was? The only logical answer to this question is the Virgin Birth. Jesus is David's son, but He is greater than David. A son of David cannot be greater than David unless there is something greater introduced into the line to make a greater son. The records of the supernatural birth of Jesus afford the only satisfactory answer. The Lord of David's line, as stated in Luke's gospel, 'And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). He is greater than David because He is the Lord from heaven."
Verse 46, "And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."
LGT "And no one was able to answer a word to Him, nor anyone to assume from that day to question Him anymore [lit. No more]."
No one was able to answer Him another word about His person or any other matter; they were now to push forward for His death. They did not dare to ask Him any more questions, because they knew by now that He would turn them every which way, and they would be unable to answer Him a word. Jesus dealt with the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the Pharisees in this chapter, and now the chapter closes with each group completely silent; they each in turn tried to trip Jesus up, but the tables were turned on each of them, and now they are silent; the truth always wins, and Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes to the Father except through Christ" (John 10:6).
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