Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ And he sent his servants to call those who had [previously] been invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come. ⁴ Then he sent out some other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened calves are butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention [they disregarded the invitation, treating it with contempt] and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. ⁶ The rest [of the invited guests] seized his servants and mistreated them [insulting and humiliating them] and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged [when he heard this], and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding [feast] is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go to the main highways that lead out of the city, and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ Those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all the people they could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests [sitting at the banquet table].

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed [appropriately] in wedding clothes, ¹² and he said, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes [that were provided for you]?’ And the man was speechless and without excuse. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].’ ¹⁴ For many are called (invited, summoned), but few are chosen.”

Tribute to Caesar

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and conspired together plotting how to trap Him by [distorting] what He said.^{(A) 16} They sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^[a]Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are sincere and that You teach the way of God truthfully, without concerning Yourself about [what] anyone [thinks or says of Your teachings]; for You are impartial and do not seek anyone’s favor [and You treat all people alike, regardless of status]. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay a ^[b]poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, asked, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius [a day’s wage]. ²⁰ And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “[^[c]The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard this, they were caught off guard, and they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

²³ On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and asked Him a question,^{(B) 24} saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother as next of kin shall ^[d]marry his widow, and raise children for his brother.’^{(C) 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. ²⁸ So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

²⁹ But Jesus replied to them, “You are all wrong because you know neither the Scriptures [which teach the resurrection] nor the power of God [for He is able to raise the dead]. ³⁰ For in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven [who do not marry nor produce children]. ³¹ But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read [in the Scripture] what God said to you: 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.”^{(D) 33} When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.^{(E) 35} One of them, a lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law], asked Jesus a question, to test Him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”^{(F) 37} And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^{(G) 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’^{(H) 40} The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were [still] gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:^{(I) 42} “What do you [Pharisees] think of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “^[e]The son of David.” ⁴³ Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁵ So then, if David calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord,’ ^[f]how is He David’s son?” ⁴⁶ No one was able to say a word to Him in answer, nor from that day on did anyone dare to question Him again.