Matthew 22:15–45

Is It Right to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

¹⁵The Pharisees went out. They made plans to trap Jesus with his own words. ¹⁶They sent their followers to him. They sent the Herodians with them.

“Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of honor. You teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t let others tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. ¹⁷Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil plans. He said, “You pretenders! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin people use for paying the tax.”

They brought him a silver coin.

²⁰He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to 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.

Marriage When the Dead Rise

²³That same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead.

²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “here is what Moses told us. If a man dies without having children, his brother must get married to the widow. He must have children to carry on his brother’s name. ²⁵There were seven brothers among us. The first one got married and died. Since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brothers. It happened right on down to the seventh brother. ²⁷Finally, the woman died. ²⁸Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”

²⁹Jesus replied, “You are mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. ³⁰When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.

³¹“What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read what God said to you? ³²He said, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am 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 by what he taught.

The Most Important Commandment

³⁴The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees weren’t able to answer Jesus. So the Pharisees got together. ³⁵One of them was an authority on the law. So he tested Jesus with a question. ³⁶“Teacher,” he asked, “which is the most important commandment in the Law?”

³⁷Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and most important commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ⁴⁰Everything that is written in the Law and the Prophets is based on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹The Pharisees were gathered together. Jesus asked them, ⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

⁴³He said to them, “Then why does David call him ‘Lord’? The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,

⁴⁴“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your control.” ’

⁴⁵So if David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be David’s son?”