Matthew 22

Listen to Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus 1spoke to them in parables, saying,
2 2"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave 3a wedding feast for his son,
3 and 4sent his servants[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
4 5Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my 6dinner, 7my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.'
5 But 8they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
6 while the rest seized his servants, 9treated them shamefully, and 10killed them.
7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and 11destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not 12worthy.
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 13gathered 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 14a man who had no wedding garment.
12 And he said to him, 15'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 16cast him into the outer darkness. In that place 17there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14 For many are 18called, but few are 19chosen."

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 20Then the Pharisees went and plotted how 21to entangle him in his words.
16 And they sent 22their disciples to him, along with 23the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, 24we know that you are true and teach 25the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for 26you are not swayed by appearances.[b]
17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay 27taxes to 28Caesar, or not?"
18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why 29put me to the test, you hypocrites?
19 Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.[c]
20 And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"
21 They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, 30"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 31left him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23 The same day 32Sadducees came to him, 33who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 34'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.'
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children 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, 35because you know neither the Scriptures nor 36the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither 37marry nor 38are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, 39have you not read what was said to you by God:
32 40'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, 41they were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 42But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced 43the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 44And one of them, 45a lawyer, asked him a question 46to test him.
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37 And he said to him, 47"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 48a second is like it: 49You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 50On these two commandments depend 51all the Law and the Prophets."

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 52Now while the Pharisees 53were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
42 saying, "What do you think about 54the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, 55"The son of David."
43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, 56in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 57"'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, 58how is he his son?"
46 59And no one was able to answer him a word, 60nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Images for Matthew 22

Cross References 60

  • 1. Matthew 13:34
  • 2. For ver. 2-14, [Luke 14:16-24]
  • 3. See Revelation 19:7
  • 4. [Esther 6:14; Proverbs 9:3, 5]
  • 5. Matthew 21:36
  • 6. Luke 11:38; John 21:12, 15(Gk.)
  • 7. Proverbs 9:2
  • 8. [Hebrews 2:3]
  • 9. Luke 18:32; Acts 14:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:2
  • 10. See Matthew 21:35
  • 11. Matthew 21:41; Luke 19:27
  • 12. Matthew 10:11; Acts 13:46; Revelation 3:4; [Luke 20:35]
  • 13. See Matthew 13:47
  • 14. [Revelation 19:8; Revelation 22:14]
  • 15. Matthew 20:13; Matthew 26:50
  • 16. See Matthew 8:12
  • 17. See Matthew 8:12
  • 18. Revelation 17:14
  • 19. Revelation 17:14
  • 20. For ver. 15-32, see Mark 12:13-27; Luke 20:20-38
  • 21. [Luke 11:54]
  • 22. Mark 2:18
  • 23. Mark 3:6; [Mark 8:15]
  • 24. [John 3:2]
  • 25. Acts 18:26; [Acts 13:10]
  • 26. See Acts 10:34
  • 27. Matthew 17:25
  • 28. Luke 2:1; Luke 3:1
  • 29. See John 8:6
  • 30. Romans 13:7
  • 31. Mark 12:12
  • 32. ver. 34; Matthew 3:7; Matthew 16:1; Acts 4:1; Acts 5:17; Acts 23:6
  • 33. Acts 23:8; [Acts 4:2]
  • 34. [Deuteronomy 25:5]
  • 35. John 20:9
  • 36. 1 Corinthians 6:14
  • 37. Matthew 24:38; Luke 17:27
  • 38. Matthew 24:38; Luke 17:27
  • 39. See Matthew 21:16
  • 40. Acts 7:32; Cited from Exodus 3:6
  • 41. See Matthew 7:28
  • 42. For ver. 34-40, see Mark 12:28-33
  • 43. ver. 23
  • 44. [Luke 10:25-28]
  • 45. See Luke 7:30
  • 46. ver. 18
  • 47. Luke 10:27; Cited from Deuteronomy 6:5
  • 48. [1 John 4:21]
  • 49. Cited from Leviticus 19:18; See Matthew 19:19
  • 50. [Romans 13:8, 10]
  • 51. Matthew 7:12; [Galatians 5:14]
  • 52. For ver. 41-45, see Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44
  • 53. ver. 34
  • 54. See Matthew 1:1, 17
  • 55. See Matthew 1:1, 17
  • 56. Revelation 1:10; Revelation 4:2; [2 Samuel 23:2]
  • 57. Acts 2:34, 35; Hebrews 1:13; Cited from Psalms 110:1; [1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 10:13]
  • 58. [Romans 1:3, 4]
  • 59. [Luke 14:6]
  • 60. Mark 12:34; Luke 20:40

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Greek bondservants; also verses 4, 6, 8, 10
  • [b]. Greek for you do not look at people's faces
  • [c]. A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer

Matthew 22 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.