Resource Detail

2025 Study of Matthew’s Gospel

GOD IS OUR LIVING, LOVING LORD

Matthew 22:23-46

Key Verse 22:37

1. Who were the Sadducees and what did they believe? (23) How do Sadducees differ from Pharisees? (Acts 23:8) What did the Sadducees ask Jesus and what was their intention? (24-28)
2. Based on Scripture, what do you think heaven will be like? (29-30) Why is it important that God said He is not the God of the dead, but God of the living, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? (Exo 3:6) (31-33)
3. Why do you think the Pharisees asked Jesus which law is greatest, why do you think they thought it to be an important/tough question? (34-36) Why did Jesus say these 2 commandments are the most important? (37-40) (Deut 6:5, Lev 19:18, Exo 20:1-17) How do you love God practically? How do you love others in your life?
4. What did Jesus ask the Pharisees and why did it cause them to be unable to reply? (41-46) (Ps 110:1) What does Psalm 110:1 teach us about Jesus? How do we keep Jesus as Lord of our lives?

Matthew 22:23-46

Key verse: Mt 22:37

Title: God is the Living, Loving Lord

Hello everyone. Happy Sunday. Last week, we heard M. Abraham Jung’s message on the first half of Matthew 22, when the King invited guests to his son’s wedding, but the invited guests didn’t show up. This reminded me of a trauma from college. Someone planned my birthday. But due to various reasons, many people didn’t show up. The restaurant prepared places for us, but half of the table was empty. I was extremely sad and bitter. I haven’t gone back to eat there and I don’t like organized celebrations for my birthday. But I have learned the same thing that M Abraham concluded with: that we must have a thankful and willing heart. I am not condemning my friends, but I did have a shadow in my heart. Now, through God, my wife, and my friends, I have a thankful heart, and I am willing to wear celebratory clothes for Jesus Christ (and my own birthday.)

BTW Pastor Juan asked me to give message a while ago because he knew he would be away. I had the first pick of dates and messages. 11/9 was supposed to be Matthew 22:23-46, today’s passage. 11/16 was supposed to be Matthew 23:1-39 about hypocrisy. I was intimidated by Matthew 22, so I chose 11/16, because I can be hypocritical and it seemed easier to me. But in September, we split Matthew 16:13-28 into 2 weeks. Rmber? So I ended up matching up with Matthew 22:23-46 anyway. I had thought about the pros and cons between choosing an “easier” message vs. Giving message on my birthday. And now I am giving the “harder” message on my birthday anyway. Yes. Today is my birthday. 31. God’s plans are always greater than ours. He has given me the opportunity to really meditate and share the word of God and spend my birthday in His presence and in the Presence of my heavenly community for my first ever Sunday message in NYC. Amen.

Let’s pray. Dear God, you are an amazing, loving God. You are forever living and give us the hope for eternal life. I pray that your Word touches us today as we worship You. Thank you, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

1.  God is Living

Matthew 22:23-46 is the 2^nd half of Matthew 22. It contains 3 sections,  “Marriage at the Resurrection” “The Greatest Commandment” and “Whose Son is the Messiah?” It is part of the interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders of Jerusalem, beginning in Mt 21 until Mt 25. We won’t study Mt 23 or 25 this year, so please study them to be warned about hypocrisy, readiness, and judgment.

 Matthew 22:23-33 describes the interaction between the Sadducees and Jesus. The Sadducees were an aristocratic, political, wealthy Jewish sect. They were more political than religious. They inherited the priesthood but were not true believers. They performed ceremonial rituals but focused on money and prestige. Like Atheists working at a church. They did not believe in spirits, angels, Satan, resurrection, or judgment. We saw few interactions because Jesus didn’t really threaten them before politically or financially. But after chasing out the money changers in the temple, I’m sure they were mad. They came to Jesus, mocking Him using the law in Deut 25: 5-6. It was called a levirate marriage, and its original intention was to maintain the name and property of Israelites in their tribes. Two famous examples are Judah’s sons & Tamar also Ruth&Boaz. It was God’s way of showing love to those who left this world before leaving a legacy. The Sadducees twisted and mocked it. ( Mt 22:24-28 ). But Jesus told them they did not understand the law. Even though they learned it, memorized it, He said  Mt 22:29. Isn’t that so powerful? They had a shallow, imperfect interpretation. But Jesus had power and authority over the Word. Jesus, as God incarnate, as the son of Man, told them the truth.

Modern day Sadducees exist now too. There are preachers of the Word who only preach love. Acceptance. They preach “happy things” about God and Jesus, but not about judgement or sin or repentance. They compromise to appeal to as many people as possible. To have bigger congregations. To bring them in, but to a partial gospel. But we cannot accept the gospel without knowing we are sinners. We cannot truly accept the gospel without knowing what would happen if we don’t accept. We cannot call ourselves a Christian without knowing we must repent of our sins everyday. We can tell people God loves everyone and wants to bless everyone. They’ll like that. Who doesn’t like that? But just like the Israelites who were worshipping superficially, rebuked by the prophets repeatedly, those who don’t know the whole gospel do not truly know God. Thank God that we study the bible from end to end with a desire to know God; What He wants to tell us, not what we want to hear. Let us fear the Lord God for He has mighty power. Let’s not read half-truths or false gospel or things out of context. Let us crave God in His entirety. Amen.

Jesus continues in 30-32  with the key point of this first passage:  the truth of the resurrection and God’s nature. God tells us Himself that  HE IS the God of Abraham. He IS the God of Isaac. He IS the God of Jacob. He IS the God of the living, not the dead. This means that God IS still alive and so are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This verse comes from Exodus 3:6a, part of the Pentateuch, the only part of the OT Sadducees accepted. We and they could say, “Oh that’s a grammatical interpretation, not truth.” But Luke 20:37-38 leaves us no doubt. God said this in Exodus, long before Jesus’ time. In Exodus, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were already buried in tombs. But God’s words told everyone that they ARE alive. Even Today. God IS still Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s God. He is our God because He is alive. THEY are alive for eternity. We have life after this world. We have hope for more than we can ever dream of on earth. I dreamt of being a billionaire and no mortgage! Who cares? God has promised me a mansion and no more crying, no more sorrow, no more pain, just constant joy and glory in Heaven with Him! Death has. and is. and will always be. defeated. We must believe in His Salvation! There IS a resurrection. There is hell. There is Heaven. God is The God of the Living Forever. He is The Living God! Amen.

2. God is Loving

Now the Pharisees were often at odds with Sadducees, but they still preferred them to Jesus. So the Pharisees thought of another question that They thought would challenge Jesus. They thought they got Him. (34-36) It was a question they never agreed about. With 600+ laws that governed Jewish life, if Jesus chose one law over all others, Jesus would be telling the people that part of the laws could be neglected and so weaken Jesus’ position. But actually, Jesus Got’em (37-38)

Jesus probably answered so quickly and matter-of-factly. Their brilliantly designed web was cut down by the laser of the Word . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment – from Deut 6:5. And the second is like it, (39-40) Love your neighbor as yourself from Lev 19:18b. God had shown so many times how much He loves us throughout history. How much He loved the Israelites throughout everything. They had so many books and histories and prophets who showed God’s constant love and desire to save His people. Jesus, God’s son, willingly crucified Himself to die on the cross for the sins of the entire world. ALL our sins. This is God’s love for us. He loves us with all His heart, all His soul, and all His mind. He loves us as Himself. And so, He asks us to love Him like He loves us. And how do we do that? We don’t know. But Jesus does. let’s Ask, WWJD? Let’s follow the way Jesus lived His life. We need to have a constant mutual relationship of love with God and with others.

So now actually. How do we love God and others? There are so many answers, but first, we must have a relationship with God. A Two-way street. We must pray to Him. We Must listen to His Word. For many of us, when we first heard of God, it was a one-sided love,짝사랑. God loves us and protects us, but we didn’t really know. My daughter, Lydia is 3 years old. I love her so much. She is a princess and sassy and spoiled, but I love her. She tells me nearly every day that she doesn’t like me. 엄마는 좋아 아빠는 안 좋아. It’s sad, but I still smile and tell her I love her. Maybe once or twice a month, she will tell me she loves me. It has become a little more frequent now. Not because I asked her to or someone else told her to say it. (usually she wants Ice cream or TV) But I’m happy to hear it. When she doesn’t respect me or listen to me, I’m a little sad inside. I think I understand God a bit more now that I’m a father. We are children, like Lydia. We often knowingly or unknowingly reject our Heavenly Father and give Him love infrequently, when we want something. But God still loves us. He loves us with all His Heart, soul, and mind. He sacrificed himself through His son Jesus for us so that we can be with Him forever. He wants you to be with Him forever. He wants you to hear His words and listen to them, because that’s how you’ll be able to be with Him. Forever. If we come to love God, not out of obligation or blind obedience, but because we really come to Love God, we will be with Him. This is God’s greatest command for us. Because God is love. Amen

Now obeying God is really obeying His commandments and a lot of His commandments involve loving others. You can separate the 10 commandments into 2 categories. The first 4 focus on Loving God. The last 6 focus on loving others. Now, the context of “love your neighbor as yourself” came from Leviticus 19:18. Some say that we only need to show love to those in our community, our “people.” We don’t have to show God’s love to every person we see or go out of our way to reach out to people. That takes too much effort. “excuse me! Yea! Stop walking so I can talk to you about Jesus! Stop your surgery so I Can tell you about the gospel!” Logistically impossible, right? When would you ever have time to eat or drink or sleep or breathe if you’re trying to reach out to every person around you?

But who is our neighbor? Think about it. We limit ourselves and give ourselves boundaries for practical reasons, but also due to biases. Some of us may be so focused on our “mission field” that we don’t see those around us that we can reach out to quite easily, Maybe out of our comfort zone, but not very far. Personally, I’m better at opening up when playing games, but I’m not quite so open when I’m at work or running around the church. And not outside or while driving. But Jesus shared the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan took the time out of his travels and resources to help a Jew, who despised him. He treated him, transported him, and paid for his care. He asked for nothing in return. So, who are our neighbors? Our neighbors include the entire world. Now don’t guilt yourself into talking to every person on Northern Blvd. You don’t have to go on a mission trip every month. Just think about how we can open our hearts a bit more in our regular interactions with family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, the 7-11 cashiers, and strangers. We may not be able to save everyone ourselves, but we can follow Jesus’ example in whatever we do. He often ministered to many, but he also spent a lot of His time in prayer and with a small group of believers who later became the pillars of the church, spreading the gospel in an initially slow but exponentially growing ministry. Let us love God with all our hearts so that we can show God to others wholeheartedly. Let us pray for the Salvation of the entire world. God is our loving, living God. Amen.

3. God is Lord

Now Jesus counterattacks in this final section. (41-42). Jesus asked about Himself, the Messiah. He wanted everyone to know the truth because He would soon be gone. He was going to go make the ultimate sacrifice for the world and He wanted to reach as many people as He could. Matthew 21-25 are serious. But the question’s answer was well-known. All Israel was hoping the Messiah, son of David, would liberate them from oppression. The Pharisees wanted this badly. They just couldn’t accept Jesus. But they knew the prophecies better than anyone. The Messiah, the son of David. Deliverer, Savior. Isaiah 9:7, 2 Samuel 7, and Jeremiah 23:5-6 mention the Messiah being of David’s line. Everyone knew and wanted him to come. But they denied Jesus. Maybe they didn’t know He was descended of David. Or that He was born in Bethlehem. They couldn’t see past their own personal ideas of the Messiah. Like the Sadducees, they only had a partial understanding of the Word, of the Messiah’s true identity.

Jesus wanted them to know the Messiah was not just a man. Look at 43-45. What does this mean? Jesus was quoting Psalm 110:1, one of the most quoted OT passages in the NT, proving Jesus is the enthroned King and eternal High Priest. It is a Christophany, one of many in the Bible that show Jesus was there since the beginning. How does it do this? The Psalm, written by David, divinely inspired, shares his vision where The Lord, God, says to my Lord, Jesus, sit at my right hand. This showed the Pharisees that David put the Messiah above Him. If the Messiah was just a human, of human origin, from the line of David, David would not call him Lord, as that Messiah was a descendant. A very special descendant, like a Rockefeller, or Han Dynasty prince, but just a human. Only if the Messiah were from Heaven, would David call him Lord. Only God was called Lord. Jesus is our Lord – 100% man, 100% God. This made the Pharisees speechless. (46) They could not say a word in reply. Jesus used the scriptures they knew to prove His point. No one could ask him any more questions – silenced by His authority. Jesus taught us repeatedly that He is the Messiah and they could not say anything against it anymore. Logic and words would no longer work. Their hardened hearts could only use treachery and violence to try to stop Jesus, crucifying Him.

Isn’t it amazing, that in this passage, we were able to see so much of God? Not just in this passage, but in so many references to the Old Testament, which we sometimes forget about. Written by so many authors over hundreds of years, The Bible, the Word of God, is so amazing. When I was younger, my first memories of bible study were with my dad. He would go over bible passages with me, and I would just sit there, barely listening. I knew how to read. My English is better than his. What was he even saying? I didn’t feel anything when I read it. I preferred fantasy novels. I had faith from my parents. I believed it to be true, but superficially. I was like a Sadducee, inheriting the faith, practicing the motions, not truly believing or focusing on the truth.

Into high school, it was the same. I would ask a complicated or weird question toward the end of bible study with my incomplete understanding – not to understand, but to stir things up. I was a Sadducee mocking the Word. I was trolling to see people struggle– but I got good answers from my bible teachers, who were patient with me and I did take some words to heart. The most common was, you have to have faith. An infuriating answer, but one that starts the process. I really learned more about God’s love for me through my HBF years.

Then in college I didn’t want to join the older people, especially my parents’ fellowship. They were St. John’s and I was a St. John’s student. But somehow, I was willing to have 1to1 bible study with this older person from church. His name is Moses Kang Sr. We started by studying Genesis. You know how cliché it is to study Genesis? Your first bible studies are almost always Genesis. Or a gospel. But God worked in my heart through bible study. I accepted the word. It came alive in my mind and my heart. The approach that was logical, scientific, historical, was graceful, full of God’s design and love for us. I began to connect the bible across history and to myself, really appreciating bible study, even though I was a hypocrite. I was a Pharisee who appreciated the word, but didn’t see God for who He really was.

But during this same time, there were a lot of changes in the church. Many people who I grew up with were not there anymore. I was kind of the last guy. Bitter and alone. But I also wasn’t the loving cheerful one to those who left. I am a grumpy guy and I wasn’t loving them. I don’t think I’m the reason people left (I Hope), but I was not the reason they would want to stay. I kept thinking how things might be different if I had shown them more of Jesus’ love. But through Bible study and struggling through it, I have been taught to Love God more and Love others more.

Now through further meditation on the Word, the counsel of elders, my loving and spiritual wife, Ribuga, and my experiences as bible student, teacher, father, friend, and all my experiences of life, I am coming to appreciate more and more and more, how precious the Word of God is. We now have a growing group of young people who are thirsty for the Word and willing to spread that Word to others. I am no longer alone but truly surrounded by a Community of Christ. The Word of God has been revealed to us and is God’s love to us. It is the Living Word that shows us the truth and the desires that God has for us. If I didn’t know Jesus, I would likely be a hateful miserable person. Probably a keyboard warrior and troll. Without empathy, chasing money and pleasure, but never being fulfilled. I can see it through my nature, my initial reaction to situations. But through this passage, I know that God is living, God is loving, and God is Lord. Jesus is the Living, Loving Lord. 

Some of you may be here or watching online just because I asked you to come. I don’t think I ever told most of them that God loves them. Or that I love them. I’m not a super expressive person. But today, I take this opportunity to tell everyone I love you. God loves you. Please come to Jesus. So thank you for coming and listening to the Word today. I may never be told to speak again on Sunday lol. But I invite you to come back again to hear the Word of God often. It is not about the specific speaker, but about the time spent with God in His Word and community. I hope that we can listen and love God together.

Through life’s struggles, I have come to know God more.  Let’s read our Key Verse. I hope and pray that all of us can love the Lord Our God with all Our heart, soul, and mind. That we may love Him so much that we cannot help but love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us acknowledge God, Jesus, the Holy spirit as our loving, living, Lord of our lives. Amen. Let’s pray.