The Parable of the Wedding Feast^(A)

22 And Jesus answered ^(B)and spoke to them again by parables and said: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; ^(C)my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ ⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶ And the rest seized his servants, treated them ^[a]spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out ^(D)his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not ^(E)worthy. ⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and ^(F)gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there ^(G)who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was ^(H)speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, ^[b]take him away, and cast him ^(I)into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

^14 (J)“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(K)

^15 (L)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(A)

^20 (B)So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.

²¹ Then they asked Him, saying, ^(C)“Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:

¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus ^[a]perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

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

²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, ^(A)“Render^[b] therefore to Caesar the things that are ^(B)Caesar’s, and to God the things that are ^(C)God’s.”

²⁶ But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(A)

^27 (B)Then some of the Sadducees, ^(C)who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, ²⁸ saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰ And the second ^[a]took her as wife, and he died childless. ³¹ Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven ^[b]also; and they left no children, and died. ³² Last of all the woman died also. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[a]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

³⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are ^(A)counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ nor can they die anymore, for ^(B)they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, ^(C)being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ^(D)‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for ^(E)all live to Him.”

³⁹ Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(A)

^34 (B)But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, ^(C)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ^(E)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (F)On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(A)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[a]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(B)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(C)But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(A)

^41 (B)While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

They said to Him, “The ^(C)Son of David.”

⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ^46 (E)And no one was able to answer Him a word, ^(F)nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.