What Think Ye of Christ?
Text: Matthew 22:42
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- State the Pharisees' question about David's son and explain why Christ turned it back on them as a question about himself.
- Identify all eleven witnesses in this sermon and categorize them: hostile, neutral, committed, and divine.
- Explain the significance of Pilate's and Judas's testimonies specifically — why hostile and self-interested witnesses are the most powerful.
- Explain what Thomas's confession "My Lord and my God" claimed about Christ and why it was accepted rather than corrected.
- State the question Christ's identity puts to every hearer: what specific response it demands.
Thesis
"What do you think about the Christ?" (Matt. 22:42). The question was first asked by Christ himself to silence the Pharisees. It has been answered by witnesses across every category of credibility — hostile witnesses, sympathetic witnesses, divine witnesses, and everything in between. The convergence of their testimonies points in one direction: Jesus is the Son of God. The question now moves from the witnesses to the hearer: What do you think?
Burden
The method of this sermon is legal: to assemble witnesses who have no common motive for agreeing and to let their convergent testimony establish what the evidence requires. The burden is not to add doctrine to the testimonies but to let the testimonies press their own conclusion upon the hearer. When a Roman governor, a betrayer who died of remorse, a supervising centurion, hostile spiritual forces, a prophet who baptized him, a beloved apostle, the first apostle, a doubter who became a confessor, a persecutor who became the gospel's greatest advocate, angelic messengers, and the voice of the Father himself all point in the same direction — the question for the hearer is not whether the evidence is sufficient. The question is what they will do with it.
Introduction
"What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" (Matt. 22:42). Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees on the question of resurrection (Matt. 22:23-33) and the Pharisees on the question of the great commandment (Matt. 22:34-40). Now he turns the exchange: while the Pharisees were gathered together, he asked them a question that they could not answer without answering the question about himself.
They said "The son of David." Jesus replied: how then did David in the Spirit call him Lord? If David calls him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word (Matt. 22:45-46). The question they could not answer is the question this sermon answers from eleven witnesses across the span of the gospel narratives and beyond.
I. Pilate: "I Find No Fault in Him at All" (John 18:38)
Pilate had every reason to find a charge — the Jewish leadership demanded it, the crowd was pressing it, and acquittal risked a political incident. He was a Roman governor whose primary interest was order and the preservation of his own authority. He examined Jesus three times and reported the same verdict each time: no fault, no crime, no grounds for execution.
A hostile witness who finds for the defendant is the most powerful kind of witness there is. Pilate did not want to acquit Jesus — he wanted to resolve a political problem. The verdict was squeezed out of a man who was looking for any excuse to avoid giving it. "I find no fault in him at all" is the testimony of a man who examined the evidence under political pressure and could not produce the charge.
II. Judas: "I Have Sinned in That I Have Betrayed Innocent Blood" (Matt. 27:4)
Judas had spent three years with Jesus. He had heard everything, seen everything, and — when the thirty pieces of silver were in his hands — decided that the profit was worth the betrayal. When he saw what his betrayal had produced, he brought the money back and said: I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood.
The testimony of a remorseful betrayer is not easily dismissed. Judas had no motive to confess innocence — the admission condemned him. He who was in the best position to know Christ's private conduct, who had been close enough to observe what no crowd could see, testified at the cost of his own soul that the blood he sold was innocent blood.
III. The Centurion: "Truly, This Was the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54)
The centurion commanded the execution. He supervised it from beginning to end. He was a professional soldier tasked with the efficient carrying out of a death sentence — his role required him to be detached, to attend to the mechanics of the execution, not to the character of the one being executed.
At the moment of death — the earthquake, the darkness, the rending of the temple veil — he said: "Truly, this was the Son of God." Not a rabbi. Not a troublemaker. Not a messianic pretender. The Son of God. The man who had just watched him die said it — the most unlikely confessor at the most impossible moment.
IV. The Demons: "You Are the Son of God!" (Luke 4:41)
"Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, 'You are the Son of God!'" (Luke 4:41). Jesus rebuked them and did not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
The hostile spiritual forces recognized who stood before them. They did not confess him willingly or gladly — they were compelled to acknowledge what they knew. The testimony of those who had every reason to deny his identity and could not is its own kind of evidence.
V. John the Baptist: "Behold, the Lamb of God Who Takes Away the Sin of the World!" (John 1:29)
John was sent for one purpose: to prepare the way. "There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him" (John 1:6-7). When he saw Jesus coming, he said: this is the one I have been announcing. "I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God" (John 1:34).
The forerunner who spent his entire ministry pointing toward someone else, who said "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30), identified the specific person at the Jordan and said: that one. The Lamb of God. The one who takes away the sin of the world.
VI. John the Apostle: "The Bright and Morning Star" (Rev. 22:16)
The apostle who leaned on Jesus at the last supper (John 13:23), who stood at the cross (John 19:26-27), who ran to the empty tomb (John 20:4), who saw the risen Christ on the shore (John 21:7) — after decades of walking with and in the presence of the risen Christ — wrote the Revelation from the island of Patmos and transmitted the last recorded words of Christ: "I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star" (Rev. 22:16).
The intimacy of John's knowledge of Christ spans the longest arc of any human witness. What he believed about Christ at the end of a long life saturated with his presence is what he had written in his Gospel at the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).
VII. Peter: "You Are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" (Matt. 16:16)
At Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asked who the disciples said he was, Peter answered for all of them: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied: "flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 16:17). The confession was not Peter's insight — it was the Father's revelation given through Peter's voice.
Peter who confessed him. Peter who denied him three times in the courtyard. Peter who stood up on Pentecost and preached: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36). The arc of Peter's life is the arc of a man whose confession was tested to its limit and held.
VIII. Thomas: "My Lord and My God!" (John 20:28)
Thomas had said he would not believe unless he put his finger in the nail marks and his hand in the side. When the risen Christ stood before him and offered exactly that, Thomas said: "My Lord and my God!" He did not say "my Lord and my prophet" or "my Lord and my great teacher." He said "my God." Christ did not correct him.
The correction of Thomas would have been the most important moment in the entire Gospel narrative if Thomas's confession were idolatry — if Jesus were not who Thomas said he was. The correction never came. "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29). The confession was accepted. The worship was received.
IX. Paul: "I Count All Things Loss for the Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ Jesus My Lord" (Phil. 3:8)
Paul had beaten Christians, imprisoned Christians, and was present and consenting at the stoning of Stephen before Christ appeared to him on the Damascus road. His transformation from persecutor to proclaimer was the most dramatic conversion in the New Testament record. "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all" (I Tim. 1:15).
The man who knew most thoroughly what it cost to confess Christ — who was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and eventually executed for it — wrote: "I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." He counted the cost with full knowledge and concluded that the surpassing value of Christ made everything he surrendered not only bearable but irrelevant.
X. Angels in Heaven: "Unto You Is Born a Savior, Who Is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)
"For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). The angelic announcement to the shepherds was a birth announcement from the court of heaven to the fields of Bethlehem: the person born this night is Savior, Christ, and Lord. Three titles in one sentence, given by messengers who speak for the one who sent them.
XI. The Father: "This Is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased" (Matt. 3:17)
At the baptism of Jesus, as he came up from the water, the heavens opened and a voice came from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). The same voice was heard at the transfiguration: "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!" (Matt. 17:5). The Father identified Jesus specifically — not as a good man, not as a prophet, not as an especially anointed teacher, but as his beloved Son.
The testimony of the Father closes the witness list. Every other testimony points in the same direction; the Father's voice confirms it from outside the created order.
Application
Eleven witnesses. A Roman governor who examined him and could find no fault. A betrayer who confessed innocent blood. A supervising centurion at the execution. Hostile spiritual forces. The forerunner who prepared the way. The beloved apostle. The first apostle. A doubter whose doubt became the most complete confession in the Gospels. The former persecutor who became the chief proclaimer. Angelic messengers. And the voice of the Father.
The question Christ asked the Pharisees returns to the hearer: What do you think about the Christ? The evidence has been assembled. The witnesses do not share a motive for agreement. They span the full range of relationships to Jesus — hostile, neutral, intimate, transformed, divine. They agree.
What do you think?
Conclusion
"What do you think about the Christ?" (Matt. 22:42). The Pharisees could not answer. The witnesses have answered. The question has moved to the person in the room who has not yet given their verdict. The evidence requires a decision.
Invitation
The verdict the evidence requires is the verdict Thomas gave: "My Lord and my God." Not intellectual assent only — Thomas did not merely update his opinion; he submitted. "My Lord" is the submission of the will; "my God" is the recognition of identity. Together they are the confession that the testimony of eleven witnesses presses the hearer to make.
Believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Repent of your sins. Confess his name before men. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). And receive the one about whom every witness agrees.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ | Christos | The Anointed One — the Greek translation of the Hebrew Māshîaḥ (Messiah). The one set apart and equipped by God for his specific saving mission. | Used in Matt. 22:42 for the question: "What do you think about the Christ?" | Every witness in this sermon is identifying the same person. The question is not merely which historical category Jesus belongs to — it is whether the person who is identified by every witness is the one God anointed and sent to save. The convergence of the testimonies answers the question. | Matt. 22:42; Acts 2:36 |
| Innocent blood | haima athōon | Blood that has not incurred guilt — the blood of a person who has done no wrong and deserves no death. | Used in Matt. 27:4 for Judas's confession: "I have betrayed innocent blood." | The force of the confession is total: Judas, who knew, said the one he sold was not guilty. "Innocent blood" is the specific legal category of a wrongful execution. The man who arranged the execution confessed it as a wrongful execution before it was carried out. | Matt. 27:4 |
| Lord | Kyrios | The one with authority, ownership, and final claim — used for masters, emperors, and translated the divine name YHWH in the Greek OT. | Used in Thomas's confession (John 20:28), in the angels' announcement (Luke 2:11), and throughout the sermon. | When Thomas says "My Lord" he uses the word that places authority over himself in Christ's hands. When the angels announce "Christ the Lord" they use the word that in the LXX translates the name of God. Both uses are sustained in the NT without correction. | John 20:28; Luke 2:11 |
| Testimony / Witness | martyria / martys | Testimony, evidence; one who gives testimony from personal knowledge. | The governing category of the sermon: eleven witnesses whose testimonies converge on a single identity. | The legal category is deliberate: the sermon does not argue for Christ's identity from doctrine but from witnesses. The standard is the standard of evidence — and the evidence, across every category of witness, is unanimous. The hearer is the juror who must return a verdict. | John 1:34; John 20:31 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Christ's question to the Pharisees | Intro. | Matt. 22:42-46 |
| Pilate: "No fault in him at all" | I | John 18:38 |
| Judas: "I betrayed innocent blood" | II | Matt. 27:4 |
| Centurion: "Son of God" at the cross | III | Matt. 27:54 |
| Demons compelled to confess | IV | Luke 4:41 |
| John the Baptist: "Lamb of God" | V | John 1:29, 34 |
| John the Apostle: "Bright and morning star" | VI | Rev. 22:16 |
| Peter: "Son of the living God" | VII | Matt. 16:16 |
| Thomas: "My Lord and my God" | VIII | John 20:28 |
| Paul: "All things loss — to know Christ" | IX | Phil. 3:8 |
| Angels: "Christ the Lord is born" | X | Luke 2:11 |
| The Father: "This is My beloved Son" | XI | Matt. 3:17 |
| Baptism for remission — the verdict enacted | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 182. Primary text: Matt. 22:42 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "John 18_:38" → "John 18:38"; "Thou are" → "You are" (NASB text). Note: Boles's outline is entirely a list of testimonies with no prose structure. The conversion develops each testimony into a distinct section, maintains the ordering, and develops the legal/witness framework implied by the list. Doctrinal audit: Thomas's "My Lord and my God" developed as a confession of Christ's deity, accepted and unanswered by Christ — no softening; Paul's testimony developed from his conversion background (persecutor to proclaimer) for maximum weight; the Father's voice from heaven treated as direct divine testimony; no depiction of the Father in narrative form — the voice only; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
