Matthew 22 — TCENT

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22Verse 1Once again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,^{Verse 2}“The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.^{Verse 3}He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.^{Verse 4}Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and the fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’^{Verse 5}But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own field and another to his business.^{Verse 6}The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.^{Verse 7+}When the king heard about it, he was furious. So he sent his armies, who destroyed those murderers and burned down their city.^{Verse 8}Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.^{Verse 9}Go therefore to where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding feast anyone you find.’^{Verse 10}So the servants went out to the roads and gathered together all whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding feast was filled with guests.^{Verse 11}“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not clothed with a wedding garment.^{Verse 12}So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did yoʋ get in here without a wedding garment?’ But the man was speechless.^{Verse 13}Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind his⁺feet and hands,⁺take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^{Verse 14}For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Question About Paying Taxes to Caesar

^{Verse 15}Then the Pharisees went and took counsel as to how they might ensnare Jesus in what he said.^{Verse 16}They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, who said to him, “Teacher, we know that yoʋ are true and teach the way of God in truth and defer to no one, for yoʋ do not show partiality.^{Verse 17}Tell us then, what do yoʋ think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”^{Verse 18}But Jesus knew their evil intent and said,“Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?^{Verse 19}Show me the coin for the tax.”So they brought him a denarius.^{Verse 20}Then he said to them,“Whose image and inscription is this?”^{Verse 21}They said⁺to him, “Caesar's.” So he said to them,“Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”^{Verse 22}When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

^{Verse 23}On that day some Sadducees⁺(who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and asked him,^{Verse 24}“Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.’^{Verse 25}Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.^{Verse 26}The same thing happened to the second and to the third, down to the seventh.^{Verse 27}Last of all, the woman⁺also died.^{Verse 28}In the resurrection, therefore, which of the seven will she be the wife of? For they all had her.”^{Verse 29}Jesus answered them,“You are in error because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.^{Verse 30}For in the resurrection people neither marry nor are they given in marriage. Instead, they are like angels⁺of God in heaven.^{Verse 31}But as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:^{Verse 32}‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”^{Verse 33}And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Greatest Commandment

^{Verse 34}Now when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.^{Verse 35}And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him:^{Verse 36}“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”^{Verse 37}Jesus said to him,“ ‘Yoʋ shall love the Lord yoʋr God with all yoʋr heart, with all yoʋr soul, and with all yoʋr mind.’^{Verse 38}This is the⁺most important and greatest commandment.^{Verse 39}And a second⁺is like it: ‘Yoʋ shall love yoʋr neighbor as yoʋrself.’^{Verse 40}All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^{Verse 41}While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,^{Verse 42}“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”They said to him, “David's.”^{Verse 43}He said to them,“How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord,’ saying,^{Verse 44}‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I⁺make yoʋr enemies a footstool for yoʋr feet” ’?^{Verse 45}If David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?”^{Verse 46}No one was able to say anything in reply, nor did anyone dare to ask him questions anymore from that day forward.