Matthew 22
22
The Story of the Wedding Dinner
1Jesus told them more stories. He said, 2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to the guests he’d invited to tell them to come, but they refused.
4“Then he sent out some more slaves. He said, ‘Tell those who were invited that I’ve prepared my dinner. I’ve killed the oxen and the fattened cattle. Everything is ready, so come to the wedding banquet.’
5“But the people paid no attention. One went off to his field and another went to his business. 6The rest grabbed his slaves, treated them badly, and killed them. 7This made the king so angry that he sent his army to destroy those murderers and burn down their city.
8“Then the king said to his slaves, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but the people I invited didn’t deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite anyone you can find to come to the dinner.’ 10So the slaves went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good. Soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11“When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who wasn’t wearing wedding clothes. 12‘Friend,’ he said, ‘how’d you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no excuses.
13“Then the king told his slaves, ‘Tie him up by his hands and feet and throw him outside into the darkness, where people will weep and grind their teeth.’
14“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?
15The Pharisees went out and made a plan to trap Jesus with his own words. 16They sent their disciples to him with some of the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you’re a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t let others influence what you do or say, no matter how important they are. 17Tell us, then, what do you think? According to the law of Moses, should we pay the royal tax to Caesar?”
18But Jesus knew they had bad motives for asking. He said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? 19Show me the coin people use for paying the tax.” They brought him a silver coin, and he asked them, 20“Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name and titles?”
21“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
22When they heard this, they were amazed. They left him and went away.
Marriage After the Dead Rise
23That same day the Sadducees, who don’t believe that people rise from the dead, came to Jesus with a question. 24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man marries but dies without having children, his brother has to marry the widow so she can have children to carry on her late husband’s name. 25There were seven brothers among us. The first one got married, but he died without having any children, so the next brother married his widow. 26But then the same thing happened to him, and to the third brother, right on down to the seventh brother. 27Finally, the woman died. 28Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers were married to her.”
29Jesus replied, “You’re going wrong here because you don’t know the Scriptures and you don’t know the power of God. 30When the dead rise, people won’t get married, and parents won’t arrange marriages for their children. Everyone will be like the angels in heaven. 31But as for whether people rise from the dead, haven’t you read what God said to you? 32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He isn’t the God of the dead; he’s the God of the living.”
33When the crowds heard this, they were amazed by what Jesus taught.
The Most Important Commandment
34The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees hadn’t able to answer Jesus. So they got together, 35and one of them, an authority on the law, tested Jesus with a question. 36“Teacher,” he asked, “which commandment in the Law is the greatest?”
37Jesus answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38That is the first and most important commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ 40Everything written in the Law and the Prophets is based on these two commandments.”
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43He said to them, “Then why does David, speaking by the Spirit, call him ‘Lord’? 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?” 46No one knew how to answer him, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.
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Radiate™ New Testament
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Matthew 22
22
1 AND AGAIN Jesus spoke to them in parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), saying,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son
3 And sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they refused to come.
4 Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my banquet; my bullocks and my fat calves are killed, and everything is prepared; come to the wedding feast.
5 But they were not concerned and paid no attention [they ignored and made light of the summons, treating it with contempt] and they went away–one to his farm, another to his business,
6 While the others seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and put them to death.
7 [Hearing this] the king was infuriated; and he sent his soldiers and put those murderers to death and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding [feast] is prepared, but those invited were not worthy.
9 So go to the thoroughfares where they leave the city [where the main roads and those from the country end] and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.
10 And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so [the room in which] the wedding feast [was held] was filled with guests.
11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at a man there who had on no wedding garment.
12 And he said, Friend, how did you come in here without putting on the [appropriate] wedding garment? And he was speechless (muzzled, gagged).
13 Then the king said to the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
14 For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.
15 Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.
16 And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are sincere and what You profess to be and that You teach the way of God truthfully, regardless of consequences and being afraid of no man; for You are impartial and do not regard either the person or the position of anyone.
17 Tell us then what You think about this: Is it lawful to pay tribute [levied on individuals and to be paid yearly] to Caesar or not?
18 But Jesus, aware of their malicious plot, asked, Why do you put Me to the test and try to entrap Me, you pretenders (hypocrites)?
19 Show me the money used for the tribute. And they brought Him a denarius.
20 And Jesus said to them, Whose likeness and title are these?
21 They said, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Pay therefore to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar, and pay to God the things that are due to God.
22 When they heard it they were amazed and marveled; and they left Him and departed.
23 The same day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and they asked Him a question,
24 Saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother shall marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother. [Deut. 25:5.]
25 Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and, having no children, left his wife to his brother.
26 The second also died childless, and the third, down to the seventh.
27 Last of all, the woman died also.
28 Now, in the resurrection, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.
29 But Jesus replied to them, You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor God's power.
30 For in the resurrected state neither do [men] marry nor are [women] given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.
31 But as to the resurrection of the dead–have you never read what was said to you by God,
32 I 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! [Exod. 3:6.]
33 And when the throng heard it, they were astonished and filled with [glad] amazement at His teaching.
34 Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 And one of their number, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him.
36 Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light–which are heavy?]
37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). [Deut. 6:5.]
38 This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. [Lev. 19:18.]
40 These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
41 Now while the Pharisees were still assembled there, Jesus asked them a question,
42 Saying, What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He? They said to Him, The Son of David.
43 He said to them, How is it then that David, under the influence of the [Holy] Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying,
44 The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet? [Ps. 110:1.]
45 If then David thus calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?
46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone venture or dare to question Him.
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