22Matthew 22

The Great Banquet

1Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people:Select Matthew 22:1

2The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son.Select Matthew 22:2

3The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused.Select Matthew 22:3

4He sent other servants to say to the guests, “The banquet is ready! My cattle and prize calves have all been prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!”Select Matthew 22:4

5But the guests did not pay any attention. Some of them left for their farms, and some went to their places of business.Select Matthew 22:5

6Others grabbed the servants, then beat them up and killed them.Select Matthew 22:6

7This made the king so furious that he sent an army to kill those murderers and burn down their city.Select Matthew 22:7

8Then he said to the servants, “It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don't deserve to come.Select Matthew 22:8

9Go out to the street corners and tell everyone you meet to come to the banquet.”Select Matthew 22:9

10They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests.Select Matthew 22:10

11When the king went in to meet the guests, he found that one of them wasn't wearing the right kind of clothes for the wedding.Select Matthew 22:11

12The king asked, “Friend, why didn't you wear proper clothes for the wedding?” But the guest had no excuse.Select Matthew 22:12

13So the king gave orders for this person to be tied hand and foot and to be thrown outside into the dark. That's where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.Select Matthew 22:13

14Many are invited, but only a few are chosen.Select Matthew 22:14

Paying Taxes

15The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong.Select Matthew 22:15

16They sent some of their followers and some of Herod's followers to say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are.Select Matthew 22:16

17Tell us what you think! Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”Select Matthew 22:17

18Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, “Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs!Select Matthew 22:18

19Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes.” They brought him a silver coin,Select Matthew 22:19

20and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”Select Matthew 22:20

21“The Emperor's,” they answered. Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.”Select Matthew 22:21

22His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.Select Matthew 22:22

Life in the Future World

23The Sadducees did not believe people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:Select Matthew 22:23

24Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.Select Matthew 22:24

25Once there were seven brothers who lived here. The first one married, but died without having any children. So his wife was left to his brother.Select Matthew 22:25

26The same thing happened to the second and third brothers and finally to all seven of them.Select Matthew 22:26

27At last the woman died.Select Matthew 22:27

28When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? She had been married to all seven brothers.Select Matthew 22:28

29Jesus answered: You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God.Select Matthew 22:29

30When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven.Select Matthew 22:30

31And as for people being raised to life, God was speaking to you when he said,Select Matthew 22:31

32“I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living.Select Matthew 22:32

33The crowds were surprised to hear what Jesus was teaching.Select Matthew 22:33

The Most Important Commandment

34After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together.Select Matthew 22:34

35One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking,Select Matthew 22:35

36“Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”Select Matthew 22:36

37Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.Select Matthew 22:37

38This is the first and most important commandment.Select Matthew 22:38

39The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.”Select Matthew 22:39

40All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.Select Matthew 22:40

About David's Son

41While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them,Select Matthew 22:41

42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?” They answered, “He will be a son of King David.”Select Matthew 22:42

43Jesus replied, “How then could the Spirit lead David to call the Messiah his Lord? David said,Select Matthew 22:43

44‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right side until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.’Select Matthew 22:44

45If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be a son of King David?”Select Matthew 22:45

46No one was able to give Jesus an answer, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.Select Matthew 22:46