22Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1Jesus again used parables in talking to the people.Select Matthew 22:1

2“The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son.Select Matthew 22:2

3He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come.Select Matthew 22:3

4So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’Select Matthew 22:4

5But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his store,Select Matthew 22:5

6while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.Select Matthew 22:6

7The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burned down their city.Select Matthew 22:7

8Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it.Select Matthew 22:8

9Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’Select Matthew 22:9

10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.Select Matthew 22:10

11“The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes.Select Matthew 22:11

12‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ the king asked him. But the man said nothing.Select Matthew 22:12

13Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.’”Select Matthew 22:13

14And Jesus concluded, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”Select Matthew 22:14

The Question about Paying Taxes

15The Pharisees went off and made a plan to trap Jesus with questions.Select Matthew 22:15

16Then they sent to him some of their disciples and some members of Herod's party. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you tell the truth. You teach the truth about God's will for people, without worrying about what others think, because you pay no attention to anyone's status.Select Matthew 22:16

17Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?”Select Matthew 22:17

18Jesus, however, was aware of their evil plan, and so he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me?Select Matthew 22:18

19Show me the coin for paying the tax!” They brought him the coin,Select Matthew 22:19

20and he asked them, “Whose face and name are these?”Select Matthew 22:20

21“The Emperor's,” they answered. So Jesus said to them, “Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God.”Select Matthew 22:21

22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.Select Matthew 22:22

The Question about Rising from Death

23That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death.Select Matthew 22:23

24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses said that if a man who has no children dies, his brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.Select Matthew 22:24

25Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother.Select Matthew 22:25

26The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven.Select Matthew 22:26

27Last of all, the woman died.Select Matthew 22:27

28Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her.”Select Matthew 22:28

29Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power.Select Matthew 22:29

30For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry.Select Matthew 22:30

31Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven't you ever read what God has told you? He said,Select Matthew 22:31

32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead.”Select Matthew 22:32

33When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.Select Matthew 22:33

The Great Commandment

34When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together,Select Matthew 22:34

35and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question.Select Matthew 22:35

36“Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Select Matthew 22:36

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

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

39The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’Select Matthew 22:39

40The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”Select Matthew 22:40

The Question about the Messiah

41When some Pharisees gathered together, Jesus asked them,Select Matthew 22:41

42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose descendant is he?” “He is David's descendant,” they answered.Select Matthew 22:42

43“Why, then,” Jesus asked, “did the Spirit inspire David to call him ‘Lord’? David said,Select Matthew 22:43

44‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.’Select Matthew 22:44

45If, then, David called him ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be David's descendant?”Select Matthew 22:45

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