1Jesus now addressed them with another parable, saying: 2”The Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who planned a wedding feast for his son. 3He then sent out his slaves to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come. 4Again, the king sent out other slaves, saying: ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner! My cattle and my fatted calves have been killed and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”‘ 5But those who were invited made light of it and went off, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, 6and the others seized the king’s slaves, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7But when the king heard about it, he was furious. He sent out his soldiers to destroy those murderers and to burn their city.
8Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore to the crossroads of the highways, and as many people as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10Those slaves went out into the highways and gathered as many people as they could find, both good and bad. Thus, the wedding [hall] was filled with guests. 11But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not wearing a wedding garment. 12He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not wearing a wedding garment?’ And the man was speechless. 13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away,304 and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ 14Indeed, many are called, but few are chosen!”
Paying taxes to Caesar
15Then the Pharisees went off and took counsel on how they might ensnare Jesus305 in his talk. 16They sent their own disciples to Jesus, along with the Herodians, and asked, “Teacher, we know that you are honest and that you teach the way of God in truth. You are not swayed by men because you pay no attention to who they are. 17Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? 19Show me the tax money.”
They brought him a denarius.
20Jesus asked them, “Whose image306 and inscription is this?”
21They answered, “Caesar’s.”
Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22When they heard this [reply], they were amazed, and leaving him, they went away.
The Sadducees question the resurrection
23On that [same] day, Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him [a question], 24saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother shall marry his wife and have a posterity for his brother.’ 25Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no descendant he left his wife to his brother. 26In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh. 27After them all, the woman also died. 28In the resurrection therefore, which one of the seven brothers will have her as wife, for they all had her as wife?”
29But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. 30For in the resurrection, people307 neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels of God308 in heaven. 31However, 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?’309 God is not the God of the dead,310 but of the living!”
33When the crowds heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. 34But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together.
The greatest commandment
35One of them, a lawyer, then asked him a question in order to test him. 36”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’311 38This is the first and great commandment. 39The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’312 40The entire law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
About Messiah, Son of David
41Now while the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question, 42saying, “What do you think of the Messiah?313 Whose son is he?”
They answered, “[He is the son] of David.”
43Jesus said to them, “How, then, does David, in the Spirit, call him ‘Lord,’ saying:
44‘The Lord314 said to my Lord, 315
sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?’316
45If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
46No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Woe on the Scribes and Pharisees
- CT omits “take him away”
- Greek “him”
- Greek eivkw.n
- Greek “they”
- CT reads “like angels in heaven” instead of “like the angels of God in heaven”
- Exodus 3:6. Jesus quotes from the Pentateuch which was the only ‘canon’ accepted by the Sadducees.
- CT reads “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” A very strong case can be made for a variant based on א, D and W. In this case, theos is indefinite and descriptive to emphazise what kind of God this God is, as in “He is not a God of the dead but [a God] of the living.”
- Deuteronomy 6:5
- Leviticus 19:18
- Or “Christ”
- Greek o` ku,rioj—Hebrew Yahweh (hw”hy)
- Greek kuri,w| mou
- Psalm 110:1/109 LXX
Text: The Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament (EOB). Used with permission.
