DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Matthew 22:15-22 (9/10-9/23) Saturday
of the Thirteenth Week after Pentecost
Why Is Christ Hated? Saint Matthew 22:15-22, especially
vss.15, 16: “Then the Pharisees
went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples
with the Herodians....” Joe Sobran begins his article, “The Man They Still
Hate,” by observing that, “The world has long
since forgiven Julius Caesar. Nobody
today finds Socrates or Cicero irritating.
Few of us resent Alexander the Great or his tutor, Aristotle. No, only one man in the ancient world is
still hated after two millennia: Jesus Christ.” In the present passage from Saint
Matthew, one finds three reasons why Christ our God was hated two millennia ago
when He walked the streets of Jerusalem, and why He is loathed by many
today. In the first century, hatred
boiled up against Jesus until He was crucified, and hate persists today because
of His 1) willingness to offend
powerful people with the truth (vs. 15), 2) freedom not to defer to persons of
influence (vs. 16), and amazing capacity to outwit clever and skilled opponents
(vs. 22).
In this portion of Saint Matthew Gospel, the Evangelist
reveals that the Pharisees made common cause with the Herodians
to “...entangle [Jesus] in His talk” (vss. 15,16). As a
prestigious religious elite they lowered themselves to plot against Jesus with
the partisans of King Herod (whom they detested) in bitter rage at the
Lord’s teaching - strange as that may seem.
Study chapters 21 and 22 of Matthew closely and you will
find the reason for this hatred.
Jesus told His parable of ‘The Two Sons’ in order to tell
the Pharisees that, for all their righteousness, “...tax collectors and
harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Mt. 21:31). To this affront, He added the parable of
the wicked tenants to emphasize His point: “...the kingdom of God will be
taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Mt.
21:43) - to gentiles! And to this
our Lord added a third parable exposing the chief priests’ lack of
respect for God’s kindness in the parable of the ‘King’s
Disdainful Guests’ (Mt. 22:2-14).
Of course “...they sought to lay hands on Him” (Mt. 21:46)
and plotted with the powerful Herodians.
Beyond Jesus’ teaching, His freedom to violate
hallowed pious customs only further irritated and alarmed the powerful. He did not enter Jerusalem as a humble
pilgrim, but accepted the role of the expected King and Messiah of Israel by
riding on the colt of a donkey to shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of
David” (Mt. 21:9). People
noticed (Mt. 21:10-11)! Besides
this, He entered the temple and physically disrupted the lucrative sales
between devout pilgrims and licensed business men (Mt. 21:12-13). Then, knowing that the blind and lame
were to stay out of the Temple, Jesus welcomed them there to Himself,
“...and He healed them” (Mt. 21:14).
The Lord Jesus’ willingness to embarrass the esteemed
and powerful of society capped off all else that He taught and did. To the indignant chief priests and
scribes He pointed out that “...out of the mouth of babes and nursing
infants [God had] perfected praise” for His actions (Mt. 21:16). And when the chief priests and leading laymen
questioned His ‘usurpation’ of their authority, He defeated them
with a question they feared to answer publicly (Mt. 21:24-25). Therefore, when He again disarmed their
plot to entangle Him and He called them ‘hypocrites’ to their
faces, they had to marvel; but they were more determined to “...kill
Him” (Mt. 26:4).
From this review, let us take care for our own souls and
for our salvation. Although the
Pharisees and Herodians said it disingenuously, they
did speak the truth: Christ is ‘true,’ and teaches “...the
way of God in truth...” and does “...not regard the person of
men” (Mt. 22:16). He sees
into hearts while we only guess what lies within us. He knows us ‘inside
out.’ Let us come and bow
down before Him, the Savior of repentant sinners; and let us plead,
“Lord, have mercy!”
Help us; save us; and have mercy on us; and keep us, O God
by Thy grace.
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