READING MATTHEW 22
[p. 209] READING MATTHEW 22
WB I suppose this is the last of a group of parables. There are three of them; the first in verse 28 of the previous chapter — the “two sons”, and then the “householder”, and, finally, this one. Do not they go together?
JT No doubt they do. Speaking in a general way, the first of the parables of the kingdom in its present constitution would be in chapter 18. In its present form it is open to be entered into, and chapter 18 would indicate the mode of entrance, and the conditions the soul finds upon entering; that is, he finds care for him and the spirit of forgiveness. Subsequently there are other phases of the kingdom which, doubtless, we all have to learn after entering. Such, for instance, as in chapter 20; this treats, I suppose, of the sovereignty of God, which is a most important phase of the kingdom to understand. Evidently the soul finds, first of all, that which he most needs at the outset of his christian experience, and that is care, as being a “little child”, and the spirit of forgiveness.
RSS Would you say that chapter 18 is a new phase in the teaching?
JT I think so. Chapter 18 presents the kingdom in its present form, as under human responsibility; but he who enters finds solicitude for his welfare, and the spirit of forgiveness. But then on the other hand the responsibility is there; those who are responsible should see to it that these elements are found in that sphere.
JB Is that the way grace comes out one towards another in the end of the chapter?
JT I think we should feel, as here in responsibility, that those who come in should find the elements alluded to in the end [p. 210] of chapter 18.
PAES I wish you would make it clear as to whether we really have to find these things, and if the sphere exists are all the conditions for it present, or is it to be regarded purely from the point of responsibility?
JT I think it is regarded from the point of responsibility. Those who are responsible accept it in that light. On the other hand, those who are entering find solicitude for their welfare, and they find the spirit of forgiveness. Do you go with that?
PAES I do. I wanted it made clear whether God has established a sphere down here. He has established it and the conditions prevail, and we do not have to form those conditions; they are there.
JT The conditions were all divinely formed, but the gospel of Matthew deals with the responsible side as in keeping with these conditions. The conditions were divinely formed, but the question is, how do we answer to them? So chapter 18 and all these chapters contain the element of responsibility and instruction regarding it. The parable in chapter 20 arises from Peter saying, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” Matthew 19:27. Whilst there is responsibility here in relation to divine things, the Lord retains and asserts that all is really based on divine sovereignty. The Lord teaches that there will be recompense, but nevertheless, “many first shall be last, and last first”. Matthew 19:30. That is to say, no surrender that you may make here will regulate anything in the kingdom. You will have recompense, but the kingdom and the place you will occupy there are regulated according to divine sovereignty; the parable in chapter 20 has that in view.
JSG Every man receives a penny. It is seen there.
JT Yes. The master says, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” Matthew 20:15.
[p. 211] A man is entitled to do what he will with his own. That is the way the Lord holds things. While He commits things into man’s hands in administration, yet He holds them sovereignly; He has a title to all. Those who are responsible can put forth no claim as if anything belonged to them. They belong to the Master. The things that the apostles ministered, for instance, were not their own. They had part in them, but I think the Lord shows that they are His.
JSG That is an extremely important point.
WB I was struck with a remark you made. You spoke of a place in the kingdom being due to sovereignty rather than to responsibility. I used to think otherwise, but I can see from chapter 20 that it is plain enough.
GFW I had the same thought and was going to ask that question. In another place you get, “Be thou also over five cities”, and “have thou authority over ten cities”, Luke 19:17,19.
JT But the Lord always designates how many cities. The point is that no faithfulness or surrender on your part will regulate things in the kingdom. You will be recompensed, but the ordering of the kingdom is in the Lord’s hands.
JSG And He will regulate it according to His own mind.
JT It will be according to His wisdom.
WB But it does not leave out the question of faithfulness.
JT Faithfulness will be rewarded, but the point is to have before our souls that the Lord is sovereign.
JSG It is what is faithfulness in His sight. For instance, any person looking at it naturally would say, The man that went in in the early part of the day ought to have more; But the Lord viewed things differently.
JT Their estimate was different from Christ’s.
GAT Did not the Lord take them up on their own engagement?
JT He gave them all they bargained for. The things of the kingdom are not on the footing of a bargain. Although a man gets all he bargains for, yet the Lord exercises the right of sovereignty.
LTF Is the reward according to the Lord’s view of faithfulness?
JT No doubt, but He is sovereign in goodness.
JSG I take it that many of the things spoken of as reward are common to all Christians.
JT I think that could be easily shown. Probably the greatest crown of all is that which Philadelphia has. The question is, what would she regard as a crown? I think the Lord speaks according to the intelligence and appreciation of the person whom He addresses, and what would a person who loves Him regard as a crown? What but Himself? Mephibosheth cared for nothing but the king and the king coming into his rights.
JSG I have thought the greatest joy will be the moment when the Lord presents us to the Father, and our joy will be to see His joy.
Ques In what way do men come into the good of the kingdom now?
JT Chapter 18 shows “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”. Matthew 18:3. But entering there, I find all the conditions spoken of. The great thing is to get in. The Lord had said that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. “Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”, Matthew 19:23, 24. Thus evidently there are certain serious difficulties in regard to entering. So that the great point, if God has instituted a kingdom,
[p. 213] is to get in. If a man is at all exercised in regard to God, I do not understand how he can be content unless he is in the kingdom.
JSG I suppose belonging to the kingdom and entering are quite distinct thoughts. I thought you might say that wherever there is a work of God, the person belongs to the kingdom in that way; but entering is on the principle of faith and in the power of the Spirit. That is, it is not in conditions that you can see all around. If you think of a future day, when the kingdom is publicly established, the conditions will be seen.
JT It is moral now, so that a man must be born anew, else he cannot see the kingdom.
JSG And it is only as set aside by the practical application of death that I can enter.
JT Born of water and the Spirit.
TA Would you say the water there typifies death?
JT It represents that which cleanses. The Spirit is that which produces vitality.
PAES Someone asked me if I would preach the kingdom or the King. I said, “Both”.
JT I would preach the kingdom. That is what Christ preached, and John the Baptist, and the apostles, but you could not preach the kingdom without preaching the King. In preaching the King, His greatness is enhanced by presenting Him in relation to what He has established. If Solomon had gone down to Abyssinia and the queen had seen him there, she would have seen the king, but she would not have got such a view of him as in Jerusalem. There it was not only the king, but all that surrounded him that impressed her “the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers”; 1 Kings 10:5. It is the Spirit who establishes in your soul the authority of [p. 214] the kingdom.
GAT Although chapter 18 does not say anything about the Spirit.
JT No, it is what the believer finds in persons in that chapter.
GAT Does it not give you the open door to the kingdom?
JT But what you find in the kingdom inside is manifested in persons. If you trespass against a brother, the grace of God is, or should be, seen in that brother; Christ is not there personally.
RSS Would you think that Simon the sorcerer confirmed what you say? He believed and was baptised, but when it became a question of the Holy Spirit, his case was manifested, and he was told he had neither part nor lot in the matter.
JT I think so. And another thing: “The kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”, Romans 14:17. All these things are found in persons. They are not found in the air. Peace and joy are found in persons.
WB These things came out very clearly in the early disciples in the Acts.
JT How else could you see the traits of Christ? You could see them in Christ personally when He was here, but now you must find them in Christians. I only speak of them in that way because in the minds of many the kingdom is taken up in an abstract way, whereas the traits of the kingdom come out in persons.
WHC And they come out by the Spirit.
JT Certainly. But you would not get the effects of the Spirit except where the Spirit is, and that is in persons. I do not know of anything that has been so hurtful in a way as abstractions. How could the church be an abstraction? The church is formed of persons. Persons cannot be abstractions.
WB Why are verses 18 - 20 introduced?
JT They show the resources of those who are [p. 215] responsible to act for Christ here. Trespass against a brother may necessitate the matter being brought to the attention of the assembly. “If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church”. Matthew 18:17. The church — the assembly — is in a very serious position in that case. Suppose the assembly is not as it was at the beginning, when all the power of the apostles was there, but reduced to two or three, what are you going to do? These verses are wonderful; they say, “if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 18:19. You recognise that the administration of divine things is resting upon you, and you say, ‘I cannot fulfil that obligation’, but the Lord says, “if two of you shall agree ... it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 18:19. If so, there is nothing you need fear, no matter how difficult the problem. And He says furthermore, “where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them”. Matthew 18:20. No matter how small things become, we are not baffled. “Two of you” means two of the assembly.
GAT What meeting does that refer to — “there am I in the midst”? It has been said it is only the prayer meeting.
JT It is introduced in connection with prayer. Collective prayer, as we see in Acts 4, would have the interests of Christ in view, and the Lord strengthens the hearts of His people by His presence. Saints who accept, as before the Lord, the burden of the testimony are, in a way, like the Cabinet of a country. In meetings for prayer or deliberation, the Lord would strengthen and encourage us by His presence.
GAT Why not any other meeting, like the morning meeting?
JT I think the Lord has before Him the obligations of the saints in connection with the kingdom.
[p. 216] It is not assembly privilege, but responsibility. In Matthew we are viewed as those who are charged with the administration of things down here during the absence of Christ. The obligation is heavy, but then the Father will do all that is asked; how encouraging!
JB So the difficult questions in regard to the Lord’s people can be solved in the meeting for prayer.
WHC And the Lord is in the midst to support us here.
JT Exactly. The Lord is with those who accept the responsibility, so that they are not baffled nor discouraged.
RSS There was a remark made on Monday morning which was helpful in connection with the gospel of Matthew, that it presents the Lord as Messiah to Israel, but that He was refused as such, consequently the church is brought in, but not in connection with its heavenly privileges; but as Israel failed in the place of responsibility here on earth, so the church is to fill that place; therefore, I think that is the point of these chapters.
JT That is the point. If it were a question of heavenly privilege, the Lord would not say, “and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”; Matthew 16:18; but He says this because the church is viewed here as having to do with the powers of evil.
RSS It is a question of administration. It is very helpful to see this as a feature of Matthew’s gospel. The assembly is presented in connection with the kingdom.
PAES I am much impressed with the thought of presenting the kingdom to people, because in view of the close proximity of the gates of hades it is a very safe place to be in.
JT The church is the only place of protection against them for the moment. Is that going too far?
[p. 217] JSG I do not think so. Scripture says, “hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”. Matthew 16:18.
JMcL Is that all the forces of evil here?
JT I think so. “The gates” represent all the power of hades. It is a most interesting thing to understand the assembly as the centre or capital of the kingdom. That in which the government, so to speak, is vested. And those two verses, 19 and 20, to which attention has been called, suggest the thought of a council as of those who are really exercised and concerned about the interests of the kingdom.
JSG The Jew would think of the Sanhedrim.
JT Yes. Our Sanhedrim is of another kind. So what we call a care meeting, or a brothers’ meeting, is, to my mind, one of the most important meetings we can have; that is, if it is taken up in the light of this chapter, in relation to Christ’s interests, the Lord is sure to be with us.
RSS I notice it is in connection with the church that it says, “hades’ gates shall not prevail against it” Matthew 16:18; not the kingdom.
JT It is of the church that is stated. I have thought that the kingdom is really sustained in that sense by the church.
RSS And I suppose the church is the greater thought of the two, because the church will abide eternally, but the kingdom is given up in time.
JT So I think it can be easily seen that it is a greater thought to belong to the capital than to be a subject in the kingdom. It requires little or no education to be a subject; the point in a subject is to be subject. But if it be a question of statesmanship, or privy councillors, you need instruction and education. Now the church really holds that place.
JSG Really in the future we shall not be subjects.
[p. 218] JT No. We shall always occupy the place of intimacy with the Lord.
JSG We may miss that privilege now as to His interests here.
JT That is the point to be made clear. All Christians are in the kingdom, but not all in the privy council. It is their privilege to go up to the capital, but suppose you have a meeting to consider the interests of Christ, how many attend? It is really those who have the interests of Christ at heart that go, and nothing prevents them from going.
PAES And all may be engaged in the King’s business, but all, alas are not.
JNH I suppose the two who could pray would be really afflicted. Would you connect it with James 5:13?
JT Those who accept the obligations of the testimony would be “afflicted”, but the point of agreement ought not to be omitted.
GAT That would bring us back to what has already been said as to the importance of unity.
JT Yes. So if you have two men, or a brother and sister, who are agreed divinely, you will get wonderful things accomplished.
RSS Because it is asking “in my name” not for themselves.
PAES I suppose two sisters would accomplish something in that sense.
JT The thought of the Levite fits into Matthew 18, because it is a question of carrying things, and going in to the Lord in prayer. Sisters may be thus engaged.
DB You were speaking about the two being agreed in connection with prayer and the interests of Christ. How would it manifest itself so as to show it was of God?
JT I think that the agreement is supposed to be in regard to what is of the mind of the Lord; it is [p. 219] not something they would like in a personal way, but clearly for the promotion of the Lord’s interests here; and there can be no doubt at all that you will get the answer from the Father in regard to that. And I think saints would recognise in any such persons that they are set for the interests of Christ.
JSG It is important to remember that the agreement is in connection with the interests of Christ: what is consistent with Him and for His glory.
RSS I suppose the gathering together unto His name is a little different. If He were here personally, we would gather to Himself, but whereas He is not here, we are gathered in connection with all that speaks of Himself So that it is easy to see that what is at the bottom of all this is affection for Christ. No one will take up obligations for Christ here unless he loves Him.
GAT Not as a duty, but on account of your affection for Him.
JB And then you would be intelligent as to these things.
WHC The Levite was not a young, uncultivated person.
JT No; everyone at the age of twenty was enrolled in the army, but no one was in the Levitical service till twenty-five or thirty, though in the reign of David they counted from twenty, but then the ark had reached its resting place.
GAW Are you thinking of the time the Lord commenced His ministry?
JT It is noticeable that He began at that age, but with us it refers to spiritual growth.
WHC And spiritual education.
JT I think it is important to see the bearing of Matthew 20 in regard to sovereignty, because that will preserve us from connecting anything with [p. 220] ourselves whilst we administer. They are not our things, but the things of Christ.
WHC And the place in the kingdom will be given to those for whom it is prepared.
JT Yes. Those working the whole day and those who came in at the last hour got the same amount. The Lord reserves the right to do what He will with His own. I doubt not that those who are alluded to as beginning early in the day are those who occupy an official place in Christendom. There are those who occupy an official place for the remuneration which they get.
WHF And would you say the others are voluntary?
JT They have no official place, but they come in at the last hour and the Lord sends them into the vineyard.
WHF They do not make any bargain as to what they will get as reward.
JT You would not confine it to clergymen; any who enter on divine service for remuneration of any kind are in this class. Persons converted through one’s preaching may be regarded as remuneration just as much as money. The Lord gives souls to His labourers, but it is a much better thing to leave this in the Lord’s hands as regards reward. You are serving because you love Christ.
WB So far as that goes we have done only what is our duty to do, no matter how great the service, Luke 17:10.
JT The remarkable thing here is that those who made the bargain appeared at the end as evil. “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” Matthew 20:15. They did not really know the Lord. If they had, they would not have bargained with Him. I would prefer to leave matters in the hands of One who is infinitely bounteous rather than make a bargain [p. 221] with Him.
WB Those who do certainly have more liberty to serve.
JT Nothing hampers a servant more than the sense that a reputation has to be maintained. If a man has a reputation to maintain, he is thinking of maintaining it; whereas if he has no reputation to maintain, he is free to think only of the Lord and His interests.
PAES Where is the man who has a reputation to maintain? The Lord made Himself of no reputation.
JT The Archbishop of Canterbury has one; and this is true of every other person in Christendom who has taken up service in an official way.
JSG That is the danger with everyone.
JT Does it not occur to you that it is a very great relief to be free from a reputation?
JSG It is a very important thing when you speak of service. If Paul went out and preached the gospel, the one object before him was not only the salvation of souls, but I judge the chief object was to present God in His true character.
JT He says, “God ... was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations”, Galatians 1:16.
JSG That is a wonderful privilege, and if the true character of God is announced to men God is pleased to use that by His Spirit.
JT And on the other hand that the offering up of the nations might be acceptable as the result of his testimony. He had a wonderful offering to present to God. So that in both cases God was before his soul. The spirit of bargain making is a most baneful thing amongst the saints. Any person who is expecting from his brethren is a bargain maker. He is expecting something in lieu of value delivered. A bargain maker is always disappointed and dissatisfied.
PAES If we are expecting recognition, we have [p. 222] not been properly schooled, because the Lord, who said, “Learn of me”, (Matthew 11:29) “made himself of no reputation”. Philippians 2:7.
JT The apostle was the filth of the world, and offscouring of all things. A man may desire to be recognised for certain duties performed.
LTF A person thinking of himself as a leading brother would be of that character.
JT Exactly; a brother I knew of said, ‘Don’t you know I have a gift?’ This was in reply to a remonstrance as to some bad conduct.
JSG I am afraid other people did not think so.
JNH Seeking honour one of another would be a phase of it, and you see much of this.
JSG It is well always to remember that the great danger is amongst ourselves.
JNH I suppose we might get elated over being called a “labouring brother” or “servant” in an official sense.
WB Does not grace underlie this responsibility here? I mean those coming in at the eleventh hour. The apostle says, “I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”, 1 Corinthians 15:10.
JT So that he might be taken as an example. He speaks of himself as “an abortion”. 1 Corinthians 15:8.
We must go on to chapter 22. It presents another phase of the kingdom; that is, the kingdom is that wherein God honours His Son. It is like a certain king who makes a marriage for his son. It is for the honour of Christ.
GFW This is the present dispensation?
JT Yes.
GFW In what way could the marriage be spoken of as present, seeing the presentation of the bride is future?
JT The actual nuptials are not in view. It is the wedding feast. It is the celebration that is [p. 223] prominent. No feast can be so important as one’s wedding feast. The figure is, therefore, of the very strongest character as showing that the kingdom of heaven has in view the honour of Christ.
GFW The greatest occasion that has arisen,
JSG It is not, the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding, but a wedding feast.
RSS It says, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king”. Matthew 22:2. The point is, what was engaging the mind of the King, who is God; namely, the honour of His Son.
JSG That is the point of the parable. God is working for the honour of His Son, and the wedding feast is illustrative.
RSS The man who came in without the wedding garment showed he was not in sympathy with the thoughts of the king. The great thing is, we should have sympathy with the mind of God in connection with Christ, what is for His pleasure and joy.
JT For this, all the guests had to be in suitable attire.
JSG Those who refused the invitation showed that they had no sympathy at all with what God had before Him.
JT I suppose in that way there could be no greater insult offered to God than disregard of such an invitation. It was a great favour accorded to those invited.
WHC Do you think Israel were the people who refused the invitation?
JT I take it that historically the feast was spread at Pentecost, and thrown open to the Jews.
JSG I thought there was first a testimony in the Lord’s life; then the feast practically at Pentecost; and then God gave a witness in His governmental dealings, in regard to the insult rendered to His Son, in the destruction of Jerusalem. It is like a monument in God’[p. 224] s government.
JT Those who have eyes to see can see that.
GAT Do you not think we see a temptation which we are all liable to fall into in regard to going to the farm and the merchandise?
JT “They made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them”, Matthew 22:5, 6.
WHC What the poor Jew is after today is commerce.
JB Is it not a wonderful thing that God should invite any to the marriage of His Son? It is a blessed invitation.
JT This parable affords a wonderful view of the kingdom. It shows you the magnitude of it. Nothing in a man’s history can be greater than the celebration of his wedding; hence the figure used here shows that the kingdom, even in its present form, involves the very greatest divine conception. Nothing can exceed the moral greatness of what was inaugurated by the descent of the Spirit, consequent on the death and resurrection and exaltation of Christ.
GAT In verse 3 He says, “call them that were bidden”. Matthew 22:3. When were they bidden?
JT I think through the ministry of Christ, as was said just now. The Lord’s ministry was the first invitation. And then there is a second appeal made through Peter in Acts 2. You must remember that this is a dispensational parable. It presents what took place at the outset; the city has been destroyed long since; so that the setting of the parable really involves the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, the subsequent invitation to the Jews, and their rejection of it which later came out in the death of Stephen.
JSG Now the servants are going out [p. 225] to the highways.
RSS To compel or gather them in to the wedding feast Would you say that what is set forth here, is that in the scene of Christ’s rejection God is determined to have a people who would be finding their joy in the exalted Christ?
JT God will not be defeated; but it is wonderful to trace through the Acts the patience of God with Israel. He pursues them, as it were, to Rome, and the apostle reasons with them there about the kingdom, and he quotes from Isaiah 6, and then says, “The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear”, Acts 28:28. So it would appear that there is a definite turning away of God from the nation as such, and the salvation of God is now sent to the Gentiles, and they receive it. So that the wedding feast is furnished with guests from among the Gentiles.
RSS In the previous chapter, the vineyard is not likened to the kingdom of heaven. It says, “another parable”. God sent His Son, “And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him”, Matthew 21:39. Then the question is put, what will the lord of the vineyard do unto those husbandmen? He does not answer, but they do, and pronounce their own judgment. “He will miserably destroy those wicked men”. Matthew 21:41. But that is just what He did not do; He gave them another opportunity, and the testimony followed them even to Rome.
JT Since the apostle turned from them at Rome, I doubt if there has ever been anything much among the Jews for God. Of course, it is an age of grace, but the judicial dealings of God go on. The Spirit of God said the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles. It had been sent to the Gentiles before that time, so the passage shows there was a definite turning away from [p. 226] the Jew.
WB I notice much in this parable that is negative. The invitations are refused, and the wedding garment is neglected. These things show how men as such, fail to appreciate what. God has before Him.
JT The Jew meets his retribution in verse 7 and the professing, but unreal Gentile in verse 13. He assumes to have a place at the feast without a wedding garment. You can apply this to the whole of Christendom. The king says, “How camest thou in hither?” Matthew 22:12. It is a most solemn thing for us. How did so much that is unreal get into the circle of Christians? Because of the unfaithfulness of the porters. In David’s day there were porters in the house of God to watch the doors, and they were Levites. Here an unfit person got in, and the king says, ‘How did you get in?’ “Take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Matthew 22:13. It is eternal retribution; not only governmental, as in the case of the Jew.
JB Everything suitable was provided.
JT What constituted the man an object of judgment was that he did not have on the wedding garment. Peter acts as a door-keeper in Samaria. Simon Magus was counted among the disciples, but Peter rejected him. Satan was endeavouring to get in amongst God’s people, and Peter says, “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God”, Acts 8:21. It is the same thing as is seen in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. They are stricken dead. I think it is the absence of that vigilance subsequently which accounts for the present state of Christendom.
GAT Do you not think we suffer from that same thing on account of the desire to get numbers, and so allow people amongst us who should not be there?
JT Yes. I think the idea of a porter is very important. He was to be a Levite. The “wedding garment” was provided by the king. It is what is according to Christ which is put upon us by the Spirit. This is a marriage celebration, and the garment worn by the guests must be in accord with the occasion. On considering the early chapters of Acts, we can readily see that the wedding garment was worn by the early Christians.