Month: September 2025

by Luke Sills

Matthew 22:41–46

Main Idea: Jesus is David’s Son as man, and David’s Lord as God.A Royal Chair Too Big to Fill

On April 29, 2011, the world tuned in to Westminster Abbey for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. That historic building has long been the place for royal coronations, where kings and queens are crowned while seated on King Edward’s Chair. Built in 1296, the throne is plain, scarred by centuries of graffiti—but enormous. Watching Queen Elizabeth II sit on it in 1953, you could see how small she looked in such a massive seat.

That throne was built intentionally oversized, as if to say: no one monarch can ever truly fill this seat.

Scripture speaks of another throne—David’s throne. In 2 Samuel 7, God promised David an eternal kingdom: “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (v. 13). But the throne was too great for David, too great for Solomon, too great for any of his heirs. Psalm 2 describes a king who would rule the nations. Psalm 72 describes a king whose dominion stretches from sea to sea, before whom all nations bow down.

That throne is far bigger than King Edward’s Chair. And only one person could ever sit in it and fill it completely—Jesus Christ.

As Paul writes in Philippians 2:9–11, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is David’s Son as man. But He is also David’s Lord as God.Jesus’ Question to the Pharisees

In Matthew 22:41–46, Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees. For weeks they had been peppering Him with trick questions, hoping to trap Him. But now He asks them:

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They answer quickly: “The Son of David.” That was the expected answer, the Sunday school response. And they weren’t wrong—but they weren’t complete.

So Jesus presses them further. He quotes Psalm 110:1, where David, “in the Spirit,” calls the coming Messiah Lord:

“The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’”

Jesus’ question cuts deep: “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

They had no reply. Their vision of the Messiah was too small. They wanted a new David—someone to overthrow Rome. But Jesus came to overthrow a greater enemy: sin and death.David’s Son, David’s Lord

Think about this: what father calls his son “Lord”? That would be unthinkable in Jewish culture, especially for King David—the greatest of Israel’s kings. Yet David, inspired by the Spirit, wrote of his descendant as his Lord.

This is the heart of the gospel truth: Jesus is not only fully man, the Son of David—He is fully God, the Son of the Living God. The Pharisees couldn’t comprehend it, but the Scriptures proclaim it.

Matthew 1:23 calls Him Immanuel, God with us. John 1:1 declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Philippians 2:6 says that though He was in the form of God, He “emptied Himself”and took on flesh. Colossians 1 shows us that all things were created through Him and for Him. Romans 1:3–4 brings it all together: “concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power… Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Jesus is the God-Man. David’s Son as man. David’s Lord as God.What Do You Think About the Christ?

That is still the question. Not just for the Pharisees, but for every one of us: “What do you think about the Christ?”

The Pharisees stayed silent. They should have bowed down and confessed, “You are Lord! You alone can save!” Instead, they hardened their hearts.

Church, don’t walk away like they did. The right response is confession, worship, and surrender.Three Applications

Think rightly about Christ. Don’t settle for an incomplete view of Jesus as just a teacher, prophet, or moral example. He is Lord of all. Study the Scriptures deeply, and let the Word expand your vision of Christ’s greatness.

Treasure Christ as Lord. Right thinking should lead to right worship. Do you treat Jesus casually—or as your treasure? Let His deity humble you and fill you with awe. Worship Him not only on Sundays but in every moment of life.

Live under the authority of Christ. If Jesus is the exalted King, then our lives must reflect His rule. Obey His commands. Share the gospel boldly. Serve with humility, as He did. Let your mind know Him truly, your heart love Him deeply, and your hands follow Him faithfully.Only Jesus Fills the Throne

The throne of David was too big for any earthly king. But Jesus Christ fills it completely. He alone is Savior and Lord.

So let me ask you: Who is Jesus to you? Don’t walk away silent like the Pharisees. Repent of your sins, trust in Christ, and bow before the one who reigns forever.

Only Jesus can save. Only He could bear the cross and rise again. And only He can sit on the eternal throne.

By Luke Sills

The Greatest Commandment: Loving God and Loving People
A teacher once asked his students, “How can we keep the greatest commandment?”
One student answered, “By praying often.”
Another said, “By reading Scripture every day.”
A third replied, “By going to church faithfully.”
The teacher nodded and said, “These are good. But let me tell you a story.”
A woman was driving home when she saw her neighbor’s car broken down. She thought, I’m tired, I don’t have time, and drove past. Later, she saw another neighbor struggling with heavy groceries and thought, Someone else will help, and kept walking.
That night she prayed, “Lord, I love You with all my heart.”
But the Lord answered, “If you love Me, why did you pass Me on the roadside? Why did you ignore Me in the stairwell? For whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.”
The students sat in silence. Then the teacher said,
“To love God fully is to love your neighbor as yourself. The two cannot be separated. In loving them, you love Him.”
This story brings us to the question: What is the greatest commandment, and how do we live it out in daily life?

The Greatest Commandment in Scripture
In Matthew 22:34–40, a lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied:
“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. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In that one answer, Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament. Out of 613 laws—248 commands and 365 prohibitions—He pulled out two. Love God fully. Love others as yourself.
Everything else hangs on these two pegs.

Loving God with Everything
Jesus quoted the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
This isn’t a half-hearted love. It’s total devotion—heart, soul, mind, and strength. Yet, in our brokenness, this command feels impossible. Left to ourselves, we can’t love God perfectly. That’s why we need Christ’s saving grace and the Spirit’s power.
But as believers, we grow in this love as we walk with God. Like the poor widow who gave her last two coins in Mark 12:41–44, we show our love by trusting Him with everything. She gave not from abundance, but from sacrifice—an undivided heart surrendered to God.
That’s the challenge: to move beyond a divided heart. Sports, jobs, money, and even good things can pull our devotion away from God. But the greatest commandment calls us to love Him first, above all else.

Loving Others as Ourselves
The second commandment flows from the first. If the vertical beam of the cross represents loving God, the horizontal beam represents loving others. Without both, the cross is incomplete.
Jesus illustrated this love in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37). The priest and Levite walked by the wounded man, but the Samaritan stopped, sacrificed, and cared as if the man’s needs were his own. That’s what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.”
True love moves beyond feelings into action. It forgives, serves, and sacrifices. It looks for the person we’d rather avoid—the lonely coworker, the struggling neighbor, even the one who wronged us—and asks, If I were in their place, how would I want to be treated?

Fulfillment in the Cross
Jesus said all of Scripture hangs on these two commandments. And He Himself fulfilled them perfectly.
Vertical love: Jesus obeyed the Father fully, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8).
Horizontal love: Jesus laid down His life for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
At the cross, His arms stretched upward in perfect devotion to God and outward in sacrificial love for people. The beams meet in Him.

Living the Greatest Commandment
So how do we carry this out?
Check your vertical love: Am I giving God my first devotion in prayer, worship, and obedience?
Live horizontal love: Who has God placed in my path today? Am I willing to serve, forgive, or sacrifice for them?
One simple prayer can shape this daily:
“Lord, help me to love You fully and love others freely, so people see the cross in my life.”
It may feel impossible at times—but look to Jesus, the one who fulfilled the command perfectly. He is both our example and our strength.

Conclusion
The greatest commandment is not two separate rules but one complete picture. To love God is to love others. To love others is to love God.
As we surrender to Christ, His love fills us, flows through us, and points the world to the cross.

by Luke Sills

As Jesus entered His final days before the cross, He was confronted by a group known as the Sadducees. They came with a tricky question designed to trap Him (Matthew 22:23–33). But in His response, Jesus gave one of the greatest assurances in all of Scripture: there is a resurrection.

That truth changes everything. This life is not the end. Death does not get the final word. And the hope of the resurrection transforms not only our future but also how we live today.

The World Will Deny the Resurrection

The Sadducees were religious leaders who based their beliefs only on the first five books of the Old Testament (the Torah). Because they did not see explicit teaching about resurrection there, they rejected the idea altogether.

So they posed Jesus a word-problem-like riddle: a woman married seven brothers in succession, each dying without children. “In the resurrection,” they asked, “whose wife will she be?”

Their aim was not sincere curiosity but to ridicule the idea of life after death. And in that, they reflect the spirit of our age. Many today still insist this life is all there is. Death, they claim, is final.

But Jesus refused their trap. He exposed their misunderstanding: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” (v. 29).

The Bible Speaks of the Resurrection

Jesus reminded them that resurrection life is not just an extension of earthly existence. Marriage, family structures, and earthly institutions do not define eternity. Instead, our resurrected lives will resemble the angels—not in nature, but in the fact that we will live in perfect fellowship with God, beyond the limitations of earthly relationships.

Scripture affirms this hope over and over:

• “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise” (Isaiah 26:19).
• “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Daniel 12:2).
• “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26).

And strikingly, Jesus didn’t appeal to those passages. He used the very authority the Sadducees claimed to respect: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). Not “I was”—I am. The patriarchs live on, because God is the God of the living.

We Are Astonished Because of the Resurrection

The crowd listening to Jesus was astonished. And they should have been. If God is the God of the living, then death is not the end. Cemeteries are not permanent. Grief is not forever.

The resurrection of Jesus proves it. Just days after this exchange, He was crucified and buried. But on the third day, He rose again—never to die again. That moment astonished the guards, the women at the tomb, the disciples, and eventually the world.

And it still ought to astonish us today. The resurrection is not just a doctrine; it is the defining event of history. It means Jesus has power over the grave, and that His victory guarantees ours. As Paul says, Christ is the “firstfruits” of those who belong to Him (1 Corinthians 15:20). His empty tomb is the down payment on ours.

Living With Resurrection Hope

If the grave could not hold Jesus, it cannot hold those who trust in Him. That changes how we live:

• We grieve with hope, knowing death is temporary.
• We face trials with confidence, knowing eternity is secure.
• We live with awe and gratitude, knowing God’s love is greater than death itself.

John 3:16 reminds us why this matters: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That is resurrection hope. And that hope should never cease to amaze us.

Conclusion

Like my daughter Olivia says when she sees something that fills her with wonder: “Wow, that cool.” That childlike amazement is exactly how we should respond to the resurrection.

Don’t treat it as a mere doctrine. Don’t let it become familiar. Instead, let the astonishing truth of the resurrection shape your daily life. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live. And that hope changes everything.

By Luke Sills

As Christians, we live in a unique tension: we are citizens of both the earthly kingdoms of this world and the eternal kingdom of God. Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:15–22 remind us that while we must give proper respect and obedience to earthly authorities, our ultimate allegiance belongs to God.

The Trap of the World

In Matthew’s account, the Pharisees and Herodians came together to trap Jesus with a loaded question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (v. 17). This was no harmless inquiry. If Jesus said “yes,” the Jewish people—already weary of Roman oppression—would see Him as a traitor. If He said “no,” He could be accused of treason against Rome.

The very alliance between the Pharisees and Herodians reveals the world’s schemes. The Pharisees despised Roman rule, while the Herodians benefited from it. Yet, they joined forces against a common enemy: Jesus. Their goal was not truth but entrapment.

The world still operates this way today. Different voices, agendas, and powers may clash with each other, but they often unite in opposition to Christ and His Word. As followers of Jesus, we must recognize that traps still exist—temptations, compromises, and cultural pressures designed to draw us away from God.

The Hypocrisy of the World

When Jesus asked to see the coin used for the tax, His opponents handed Him a denarius. On it was the image of Caesar, along with inscriptions claiming divine status. The very presence of that coin in the temple exposed their hypocrisy. They claimed to honor God while carrying around tokens of idolatry.

Jesus’ response cut through their act: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (v. 21). In one sentence, He avoided their trap and exposed their duplicity. They sought to mask their intentions with flattery and false respect, but Jesus saw their hearts.

The same danger exists for us. Hypocrisy is not just for the Pharisees—it’s a temptation for every believer. We can say one thing while living another, honor God with our lips while carrying “Caesar’s coin” in our pockets. Jesus’ words remind us that true worship demands integrity and wholehearted devotion.

Living in the World, Serving God

Jesus’ answer also provides a framework for how Christians are to live. We are called to honor legitimate earthly authority—paying taxes, obeying laws, and respecting leaders. As Paul wrote in Romans 13:1–7, governing authorities are “God’s servants” to maintain order. Peter likewise urged believers to “honor everyone… fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17).

Yet our obedience is not blind. If earthly authority ever demands what belongs to God—our worship, our conscience, or our obedience to His Word—we must echo the apostles’ conviction: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29).

This balance requires wisdom. Like traffic signs on the road, laws are meant to protect and guide. But if a sign directed you off a cliff, you would not follow it. In the same way, Christians can and should be the best citizens possible—while always remembering that their true citizenship is in heaven.

What Belongs to God

The coin bore Caesar’s image, but humanity bears God’s image (Genesis 1:27). That means our very lives belong to Him. To render to God what is God’s means worshiping Him above all else (John 4:24), living holy lives that reflect His character (Romans 12:1–2), obeying Him even when culture disagrees (Acts 4:19), and dying daily to self in order to follow Christ (Luke 9:23).

Giving to God is not just about finances, though it includes faithfulness in offerings and tithes (Malachi 3:10). It’s about surrendering every part of our lives—our hearts, our decisions, our time, and our allegiance.

Our Plea Today

Dr. R.C. Sproul once noted that in Rome, citizens were required to declare, “Caesar is Lord.” But the early church refused, confessing instead, “Jesus is Lord.” That refusal cost many their lives, yet it preserved their souls.

The call for us today is the same. The world will try to trap us with compromises and distractions. It will dangle false measures of success—money, power, influence. But true success in God’s eyes is faithfulness, humility, and obedience.

So, let us live in the world but not of it. Let us honor authorities without idolizing them. Let us carry Caesar’s coin in our pocket, but God’s image in our soul. And above all, let us give to God what is His—our worship, our trust, and our lives.