Mat 22 | ESV | STEP | And again Jesus spoke to them in parables , saying ,

‏ Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus ^aspoke to them in parables, saying, 2 ^b“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^ca wedding feast for his son, 3 and ^dsent his servants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants; also verses 4, 6, 8, 10} to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 ^fAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^gdinner, ^hmy oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But ⁱthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, ^jtreated them shamefully, and ^kkilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^ldestroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^mworthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and ⁿgathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ^oa man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ^p‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^qcast him into the outer darkness. In that place ^rthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are ^scalled, but few are ^tchosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 ^uThen the Pharisees went and plotted how ^vto entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent ^wtheir disciples to him, along with ^xthe Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^ywe know that you are true and teach ^zthe way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for ^aayou are not swayed by appearances. ^{▼▼Greek for you do not look at people’s faces} 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ^actaxes to ^adCaesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^aeput me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ^{▼▼A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer} 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, ^ag“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^ahleft him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23 The same day ^aiSadducees came to him, ^ajwho say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ^ak‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, ^albecause you know neither the Scriptures nor ^amthe power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither ^anmarry nor ^aoare given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, ^aphave you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ^aq‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, ^arthey were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 ^asBut when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced ^atthe Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 ^auAnd one of them, ^ava lawyer, asked him a question ^awto test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, ^ax“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And ^aya second is like it: ^azYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 ^baOn these two commandments depend ^bball the Law and the Prophets.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 ^bcNow while the Pharisees ^bdwere gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about ^bethe Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, ^bf“The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, ^bgin the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

44 ^bh“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

45 If then David calls him Lord, ^bihow is he his son?” 46 ^bjAnd no one was able to answer him a word, ^bknor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.