Matthew 22
Jesus spoke in parables, comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king's wedding feast, where those initially invited refused to come, and the king's servants gathered others to fill the wedding. However, one guest was cast out for not wearing a wedding garment. The Pharisees then attempted to trap Jesus with questions about paying taxes to Caesar, but he replied that one should render to Caesar what is his and to God what is God's. The Sadducees questioned Jesus about the resurrection, citing a hypothetical scenario about a woman with seven husbands, but Jesus replied that in the resurrection, people will be like angels and not marry. A Pharisee asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, and Jesus replied that it is to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. Finally, Jesus questioned the Pharisees about the Christ, pointing out that if David called him Lord, he could not be his son, leaving them unable to respond.
And responding, Jesus again spoke to them in parables, saying"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was king, who celebrated a wedding for his sonAnd he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding. But they were not willing to comeAgain, he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell the invited: Behold, I have prepared my meal. My bulls and fatlings have been killed, and all is ready. Come to the wedding.But they ignored this and they went away: one to his country estate, and another to his businessYet truly, the rest took hold of his servants and, having treated them with contempt, killed themBut when the king heard this, he was angry. And sending out his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and he burned their cityThen he said to his servants: ‘The wedding, indeed, has been prepared. But those who were invited were not worthyTherefore, go out to the ways, and call whomever you will find to the wedding.And his servants, departing into the ways, gathered all those whom they found, bad and good, and the wedding was filled with guestsThen the king entered to see the guests. And he saw a man there who was not clothed in a wedding garmentAnd he said to him, ‘Friend, how is it that you have entered here without having a wedding garment?’ But he was dumbstruckThen the king said to the ministers: ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teethFor many are called, but few are chosen.’ Then the Pharisees, going out, took counsel as to how they might entrap him in speechAnd they sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying: "Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and that you teach the way of God in truth, and that the influence of others is nothing to you. For you do not consider the reputation of menTherefore, tell us, how does it seem to you? Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar, or not?But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: "Why do you test me, you hypocritesShow me the coin of the census tax." And they offered him a denariusAnd Jesus said to them, "Whose image is this, and whose inscription?They said to him, "Caesar’s." Then he said to them, "Then render to Caesar what is of Caesar; and to God what is of God.And hearing this, they wondered. And having left him behind, they went awayIn that day, the Sadducees, who say there is to be no resurrection, approached him. And they questioned himsaying: "Teacher, Moses said: If anyone will have died, having no son, his brother shall marry his wife, and he shall raise up offspring to his brotherNow there were seven brothers with us. And the first, having taken a wife, died. And having no offspring, he left his wife to his brothersimilarly with the second, and the third, even to the seventhAnd last of all, the woman also passed awayIn the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.But Jesus responded to them by saying: "You have gone astray by knowing neither the Scriptures, nor the power of GodFor in the resurrection, they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage. Instead, they shall be like the Angels of God in heavenBut concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, saying to you‘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.And when the crowds heard this, they wondered at his doctrineBut the Pharisees, hearing that he had caused the Sadducees to be silent, came together as oneAnd one of them, a doctor of the law, questioned him, to test him"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?Jesus said to him: " ‘You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the greatest and first commandmentBut the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.On these two commandments the entire law depends, and also the prophets.Then, when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned themsaying: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "David’s.He said to them: "Then how can David, in the Spirit, call him Lord, saying‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?So then, if David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?And no one was able to respond to him a word. And neither did anyone dare, from that day forward, to question him
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