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22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a wedding for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they did not want to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Say to those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But not caring, they went away, one to his own field, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 And when that king heard, he was furious. And he sent out his troops, and he destroyed those murderers, and he burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not 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 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 not dressed with wedding clothes. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not having wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hands and feet, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The Question about Paying Taxes
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might trap Him in His speech. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You show favoritism to anyone. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, 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, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and leaving Him, they went away.
The Question about the Resurrection
23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him, and they questioned Him, 24 saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife as next of kin, and shall raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died, after having married, and having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God! 30 For in the resurrection neither do they marry, nor are they given in marriage, but they are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
The Greatest Commandment
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, 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, “ ‘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 first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The Question about David's Son
41 And when 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, “David's.”
43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
till I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet” ’?
45 If David therefore calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him any longer.

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© 2014 Dr. Paul W. Esposito