Matthew 22
22
Chapter 22
Jesus tells a story about a meal at a marriage
1Jesus continued to teach the people with stories. 2He said, ‘This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king prepared a special meal for his son's marriage. 3He asked many people to come. When the meal was ready, he sent his servants out to tell those people to come. But they refused to come.
4So the king then sent out other servants. He said to them, “Tell this message to all those people that I have asked to come. Tell them that the master says, ‘My servants have prepared the meal. They have killed my large oxen and some fat young cows to eat. Everything is ready. Now come to the marriage party!’ ”
5But the people did not think that the king's message was important. They went away to do their own work. One man went to his farm and another man went to his business. 6Other people took hold of the king's servants. They hurt them and then they killed them. 7The king was very angry. He sent his soldiers to the city where those people lived. They killed the people who killed the king's servants. They destroyed their city with fire.
8Then the king said to his other servants, “The meal for my son's marriage is ready. But the people that I had asked to come did not deserve to come. 9So go out now to the town's streets where people meet together. Ask all the people that you find there to come to the marriage party.” 10Then those servants went out into the streets. They brought to the king's house all the people that they met. Some were good people and some were bad people. Very many people came. The room for the marriage was full!
11Then the king came into the room to see all the people. He saw one man who was not wearing the right clothes for a marriage. #22:11 At that time, a man asked his friends to a special meal when he got married. He also gave them special clothes to wear. They wore these clothes when they came in to the meal. In the story, people came in from the streets, so they were not wearing special clothes. One person had not accepted the special clothes that the king gave to him. The special clothes are like what God gives us because of Jesus. Each person must accept what God gives. A person cannot save himself. That is what Jesus is teaching in this story. 12The king said to the man, “How did you come in here, my friend? You are not wearing the right clothes for a marriage.” The man could not answer the king.
13The king said to his servants, “Tie his hands and his feet. Take him and throw him into the dark place outside. There, people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.”
14God asks many people to come to him. But he only chooses a few people to be there with him.’
The Pharisees ask Jesus about taxes
15After the Pharisees heard this, they thought about what they could do. They wanted to ask Jesus difficult questions. They wanted to make him say something wrong about the Roman ruler. 16So the Pharisees sent their own disciples to Jesus. They also sent people who were friends of King Herod. They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that you only say true things. You teach us what God wants us to do. It does not matter to you what other people think. If someone is important, you do not change your answers to make them happy. 17So tell us your answer to this question: Should we pay our taxes to the Roman ruler, Caesar? Is it right to give that money to him, or not?’
18Jesus knew that these men wanted to do bad things to him. So he said to them, ‘You are asking that question to cause trouble for me. You are not being honest! 19Now, show me the coin that you use for the tax.’ So they brought a coin to him. 20Then Jesus asked them, ‘Whose picture is on this coin? Whose name is on it?’
21They replied, ‘It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name.’
Jesus said to them, ‘So you should give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. And give to God the things that belong to God.’
22When they heard Jesus' answer, they were very surprised. So they left him and they went away.
The Sadducees ask Jesus a question
23On that day, some Sadducees also came to Jesus. Sadducees do not believe that anyone becomes alive again after they die. They wanted to ask Jesus a question. #22:23 The Sadducees were a group of Jewish leaders.
24‘Teacher,’ they said to him, ‘Moses said in the Bible: A man may die and leave behind a wife but no children. Then that man's brother must marry the woman. Then their children will be called the children of the brother who died. 25Once, there were seven brothers who lived here. The oldest brother married a woman. Then he died before they had any children. So the second brother married the woman. 26But then he also died with no children. So a third brother married this woman. And the same thing happened to all the brothers down to the seventh brother. They all died before the woman had any children. 27After all this, the woman also died. 28You teach that one day dead people will become alive again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’
29Jesus said to the Sadducees, ‘You are wrong. This is because you do not know the Bible. And you do not know how powerful God is. 30One day, God will raise people up after they have died. They will become alive again. But then men and women will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. 31It is true that one day dead people will become alive again. You have read in the Bible about what God said to you: 32“I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.” God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive.’ #22:32 See Exodus 3:6.
33The crowd heard this. They were very surprised about what Jesus was teaching.
Jesus teaches the Pharisees about the most important Law
34The Pharisees heard that Jesus had said these things to the Sadducees. Now the Sadducees could not say anything more to him. So the Pharisees met together. They decided what they would say to Jesus.
35One of the Pharisees had studied God's Law very well. He asked Jesus a question to see how he would answer. 36He said, ‘Teacher, which of God's Laws is the most important rule for us to obey?’
37Jesus replied to him, ‘You should love the Lord your God completely: Love him with all your mind. Love him with all that you are. Love him in all that you think. 38This is the greatest rule and the most important of all God's Laws. 39The second rule is also important, like the first one. You should love other people as much as you love yourself. 40All God's Laws that Moses gave us come from these two rules. All the things that the prophets wrote also come from them.’
Jesus teaches people about the Messiah
41While the Pharisees met together with Jesus, he asked them, 42‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’
The Pharisees replied, ‘He will be King David's son.’
43Jesus said to them, ‘So think about this: God's Holy Spirit helped King David to call the Messiah his Lord. David said, 44“The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side until I win against your enemies.
Then you will be able to put your feet on them.”
45We know that King David calls the Messiah his Lord. So can you really say that the Messiah is David's son?’ 46Nobody could answer the question that Jesus asked. After this, everyone was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.
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Matthew 22: EASY
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Matthew 22
22
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
(Lk 14.15–24)
1Jesus again used parables in talking to the people. 2“The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. 3He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come. 4So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my bullocks and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’ 5But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his shop, 6while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. 7The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burnt down their city. 8Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it. 9Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’ 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.
11 “The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ the king asked him. But the man said nothing. 13#Mt 8.12; 25.30; Lk 13.28Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and grind his teeth.’ ”
14And Jesus concluded, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
The Question about Paying Taxes
(Mk 12.13–17; Lk 20.20–26)
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
(Mk 12.18–27; Lk 20.27–40)
23 #
Acts 23.8
That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death. 24#Deut 25.5“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#Ex 3.6‘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
(Mk 12.28–34; Lk 10.25–28)
34When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, 35#Lk 10.25–28and 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 #
Deut 6.5
Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and the most important commandment. 39#Lev 19.18The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ 40The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
The Question about the Messiah
(Mk 12.35–37; Lk 20.41–44)
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 #
Ps 110.1
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit here on my right
until I put your enemies under your feet.’
45 If, then, David called him ‘Lord’, how can the Messiah be David's descendant?”
46No one was able to give Jesus any answer, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.