MatthewChapter 22

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¹Once again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said, ²"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³He sent his servants to call the people he had invited to the feast. But they would not come. ⁴Then he sent some more servants. He said, 'Tell those who are invited that I have made my dinner ready. My oxen and fat cattle have been killed. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.' ⁵But the people paid no attention and went off. One went to his field. Another went to his business. ⁶The rest grabbed his servants. They treated them badly and killed them. ⁷The king was furious. He sent his army to destroy those murderers and burn their city. ⁸Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready. But the people I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹So go to the places where the roads meet. Invite everyone you can find to the feast.' ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets. They gathered everyone they could find, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹But the king came in to see the guests. He saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' But the man had nothing to say. ¹³Then the king told the servants, 'Tie his hands and feet. Throw him outside into the darkness. There will be crying and grinding of teeth there.' ¹⁴For many are invited, but few are chosen." ¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and made plans to trap Jesus by what he said. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you are honest. You teach the way of God truthfully. You don't try to please anyone, because you don't care how important people seem. ¹⁷So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" ¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil plan. He said, "You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin used to pay the tax." They brought him a denarius.a ²⁰"Whose picture is this?" he asked. "And whose name is written on it?" ²¹"Caesar's," they answered. So Jesus told them, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God." ²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. ²³That same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They say that the dead do not rise again. ²⁴"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us what to do if a man dies without having children. His brother must marry the widow. Then he must have children for the brother who died. ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died. He had no children, so he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second brother and the third. It happened all the way to the seventh. ²⁷Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸So when the dead rise again, whose wife will she be of the seven? All of them were married to her." ²⁹Jesus answered, "You are wrong, because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God. ³⁰When the dead rise again, people will not marry. They will not be given to be married. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹But what about the dead rising again? Haven't you read what God said to you? ³²He said, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living." ³³When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching. ³⁴The Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees with nothing to say. So they met together. ³⁵One of them was an expert in the law. He tested Jesus with a question. ³⁶"Teacher, which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" ³⁷Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it. 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." ⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question. ⁴²"What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?" "David's son," they answered.b ⁴³Jesus said to them, "Then why does David call him 'Lord'? David was speaking by the Spirit when he said, ⁴⁴'The Lord said to my Lord,
"Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet."' ⁴⁵So if David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be David's son?" ⁴⁶No one could say a word to answer him. And from that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions.