Chapter 22

Parable of the Marriage Feast

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

2 “aThe kingdom of heaven 1may be compared to 2a king who 3gave a bwedding feast for his son.

3 “And he asent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

4 “Again he asent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’

5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own 1farm, another to his business,

6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

8 “Then he * said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

9 ‘Go therefore to athe main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with 1dinner guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw aa man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

12 and he * said to him, ‘aFriend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into athe outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are 1acalled, but few are achosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

15 aThen the Pharisees went and 1plotted together how they might trap Him 2in what He said.

16 And they * sent their disciples to Him, along with the aHerodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and 1defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.

17 “Tell us then, what do You think? Is it 1lawful to give a apoll-tax to bCaesar, or not?”

18 But Jesus perceived their 1malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?

19 “Show Me the acoin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a 1denarius.

20 And He * said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

21 They * said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He * said to them, “aThen render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and aleaving Him, they went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

23 aOn that day some bSadducees (who say cthere is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,

24 asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘aIf a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

25 “Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother;

26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh.

27 “Last of all, the woman died.

28 “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, anot 1understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.

30 “For in the resurrection they neither amarry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:

32 ‘aI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

33 When the crowds heard this, athey were astonished at His teaching.

34 aBut when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced bthe Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

35 One of them, 1aa lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “ ‘aYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 “This is the great and 1foremost commandment.

39 “The second is like it, ‘aYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 “aOn these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

41 aNow while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

42 “What do you think about 1the Christ, whose son is He?” They * said to Him, “aThe son of David.”

43 He * said to them, “Then how does David 1ain the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 ‘aThe Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’?

45 “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

46 aNo one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him 1another question.