Matthew 22:15–45

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹⁵The Pharisees went off and made a plan to trap Jesus with questions. 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. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?”

¹⁸Jesus, however, was aware of their evil plan, and so he said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin for paying the tax!”

They brought him the coin, ²⁰and he asked them, “Whose face and name are these?”

²¹“The Emperor’s,” they answered.

So Jesus said to them, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.”

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

The Question about Rising from Death

^23*That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death. ^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. ²⁵Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The eldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven. ²⁷Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her.”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! It is because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power. ³⁰For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. ³¹Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven’t you ever read what God has told you? He said, ^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.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, ^35*and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. ^36*“Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

^37*Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ^38*This is the greatest and the most important commandment. ^39*The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ ^40*The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Question about the Messiah

⁴¹When some Pharisees gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴²“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose descendant is he?”

“He is David’s descendant,” they answered.

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

^44*‘The Lord said to my Lord:

Sit here on my right

until I put your enemies under your feet.’

⁴⁵If, then, David called him ‘Lord’, how can the Messiah be David’s descendant?”