22:1 Then Jesus replied and taught them again with analogies, saying:
22:2 “The sanctuary of the spiritual realm is like a governor who arranged a marriage for his son.
22:3 He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding – and they would not come.
22:4 Then he sent out other servants, instructing them, ‘Tell those who are invited, ‘Look, I have prepared my feast, my oxen and my livestock are sacrificed and everything is ready – come to the wedding.
22:5 But they paid no attention to it, and went their own way – one to his farm and another to his store.
22:6 And the remaining seized his servants and abused them and murdered them.
22:7 When the governor heard of this he was enraged. So he sent out his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned up their village.
22:8 Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not deserving.
22:9 Therefore, go into the streets, and invite to the wedding whomever you will find.”
22:10 So those servants went out into the streets, and brought together all they had found – both good and bad – and the wedding was filled with guests.
22:11 But when the governor came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing clothes suitable for a wedding.
22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in without clothes suitable for a wedding?’ The man was speechless.
22:13 Then the governor said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into the darkness outside – where there is weeping and suffering.’
22:14 Because many are invited yet few chosen.”
22:15 Then the pharisees departed – and gathered to figure out how to trap him in his words.
22:16 So they dispatched their followers with Herod’s men, saying, “Master, we know that you have integrity, and teach the path of God in truth – and defer to no one, because you disregard the physical body.1
22:17 Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar or not?”
22:18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and replied, “Why are you trying to trap me, you hypocrites?
22:19 Bring me the coin that pays the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.
22:20 And he asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
22:21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Therefore, give to Caesar what things are Caesar’s and to God those things that are God’s.”
22:22 When they heard this they were amazed. They left him and went their way.
22:23 The same day the sadducees – who say there is no resurrection2 – approached him and asked,
22:24 “Master, Moses said, ‘If a man dies and he has no children, his brother should marry his widow and raise the offspring for his brother.’
22:25 Now suppose there were seven brothers. The first died after marrying his wife, and having no children, left his wife to his brother.
22:26 The same thing happened to the second and the third, all the way to the seventh.
22:27 And then the woman died as well.
22:28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all were married to her.”
22:29 Jesus replied and said to them, “You are mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures nor the power of God.
22:30 Because in the resurrection they will not marry, nor will be subject to marriage, but will be as angels of God in the spiritual realm.
22:31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead,3 haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God –
22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?4 God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
22:33 When the crowd heard this, they were amazed at his teachings.
22:34 When the pharisees heard he had silenced the sadducees, they gathered together.
22:35 Then one of them – an expert in the Scriptures – asked a question to test him:
22:36 “Master, what is the greatest commandment in the Scriptures?”
22:37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’5
22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
22:39 And the second is related: ‘Love others6 as yourself.’
22:40 Upon these two commandments hang all the commandments and the Prophets.”
22:41 When the pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them:
22:42 “What do you think of the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ]? Who’s servant is he? They said to him, “Of David.”
22:43 He then asked them, “Why then does David call him ‘master’ within the spirit, saying:
22:44 “The LORD said to my master: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’7
22:45 If David then calls him ‘master,’ how is he his servant?”
22:46 No one was able to say a word, and for the remainder of the day no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 22:16. The Greek phrase – οὐ γὰρ βλέπεις εἰς πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπων – indicates a disregard of the human physical body. Jesus does not disregard humanity – as he states elsewhere that he is the Servant of Humanity. He loves others – but disregards the temporary physical body.
2. Verse 22:23. The Greek word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) refers to the self (or soul) leaving the body – “rising” – at the time of death. The word, “resurrect” means to, “restore to life, bring back to life, raise from the dead,” according to the Collins Dictionary. According to Webster’s, the term also means, “to cause (something that had ended or been forgotten or lost), to exist again, to be used again.” The self or soul is defined here and in Matthew 22:30 as spiritual, outside of the confines of the physical world. Thus the word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) indicates the rising of the spirit-person from the gross physical body at the time of death.
3. Verses 22:31 and 22:32. The Greek word νεκρός (nekros) can refer to a dead body or it can indicate – when used metaphorically as Jesus is doing here – according to the lexicon, becoming “spiritually dead - destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins.”
4. Verse 22:32.
5. Verse 22:37.22:2 “The sanctuary of the spiritual realm is like a governor who arranged a marriage for his son.
22:3 He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding – and they would not come.
22:4 Then he sent out other servants, instructing them, ‘Tell those who are invited, ‘Look, I have prepared my feast, my oxen and my livestock are sacrificed and everything is ready – come to the wedding.
22:5 But they paid no attention to it, and went their own way – one to his farm and another to his store.
22:6 And the remaining seized his servants and abused them and murdered them.
22:7 When the governor heard of this he was enraged. So he sent out his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned up their village.
22:8 Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not deserving.
22:9 Therefore, go into the streets, and invite to the wedding whomever you will find.”
22:10 So those servants went out into the streets, and brought together all they had found – both good and bad – and the wedding was filled with guests.
22:11 But when the governor came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing clothes suitable for a wedding.
22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in without clothes suitable for a wedding?’ The man was speechless.
22:13 Then the governor said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into the darkness outside – where there is weeping and suffering.’
22:14 Because many are invited yet few chosen.”
22:15 Then the pharisees departed – and gathered to figure out how to trap him in his words.
22:16 So they dispatched their followers with Herod’s men, saying, “Master, we know that you have integrity, and teach the path of God in truth – and defer to no one, because you disregard the physical body.1
22:17 Tell us, then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar or not?”
22:18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and replied, “Why are you trying to trap me, you hypocrites?
22:19 Bring me the coin that pays the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.
22:20 And he asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
22:21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Therefore, give to Caesar what things are Caesar’s and to God those things that are God’s.”
22:22 When they heard this they were amazed. They left him and went their way.
22:23 The same day the sadducees – who say there is no resurrection2 – approached him and asked,
22:24 “Master, Moses said, ‘If a man dies and he has no children, his brother should marry his widow and raise the offspring for his brother.’
22:25 Now suppose there were seven brothers. The first died after marrying his wife, and having no children, left his wife to his brother.
22:26 The same thing happened to the second and the third, all the way to the seventh.
22:27 And then the woman died as well.
22:28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all were married to her.”
22:29 Jesus replied and said to them, “You are mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures nor the power of God.
22:30 Because in the resurrection they will not marry, nor will be subject to marriage, but will be as angels of God in the spiritual realm.
22:31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead,3 haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God –
22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?4 God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
22:33 When the crowd heard this, they were amazed at his teachings.
22:34 When the pharisees heard he had silenced the sadducees, they gathered together.
22:35 Then one of them – an expert in the Scriptures – asked a question to test him:
22:36 “Master, what is the greatest commandment in the Scriptures?”
22:37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’5
22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
22:39 And the second is related: ‘Love others6 as yourself.’
22:40 Upon these two commandments hang all the commandments and the Prophets.”
22:41 When the pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them:
22:42 “What do you think of the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ]? Who’s servant is he? They said to him, “Of David.”
22:43 He then asked them, “Why then does David call him ‘master’ within the spirit, saying:
22:44 “The LORD said to my master: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’7
22:45 If David then calls him ‘master,’ how is he his servant?”
22:46 No one was able to say a word, and for the remainder of the day no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 22:16. The Greek phrase – οὐ γὰρ βλέπεις εἰς πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπων – indicates a disregard of the human physical body. Jesus does not disregard humanity – as he states elsewhere that he is the Servant of Humanity. He loves others – but disregards the temporary physical body.
2. Verse 22:23. The Greek word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) refers to the self (or soul) leaving the body – “rising” – at the time of death. The word, “resurrect” means to, “restore to life, bring back to life, raise from the dead,” according to the Collins Dictionary. According to Webster’s, the term also means, “to cause (something that had ended or been forgotten or lost), to exist again, to be used again.” The self or soul is defined here and in Matthew 22:30 as spiritual, outside of the confines of the physical world. Thus the word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) indicates the rising of the spirit-person from the gross physical body at the time of death.
3. Verses 22:31 and 22:32. The Greek word νεκρός (nekros) can refer to a dead body or it can indicate – when used metaphorically as Jesus is doing here – according to the lexicon, becoming “spiritually dead - destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins.”
4. Verse 22:32.
"I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." (Exodus 3:6 NIV)
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5 NIV)6. Verse 22:39. The Greek word πλησίον (plēsion) has been translated to “neighbor” in some translations. However, according to the lexicon, the word means, “any other person and where two are concerned, the other.” This indicates that one’s love for others should not be limited to a neighbor.
7. Verse 22:44.
Of David. A psalm. The LORD says to my lord [master*]: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." (Psalm 110:1 NIV)*The first instance of “LORD” here is translated from the Hebrew word, יְהֹוָה (Yĕhovah) while the second [“master”] is translated from the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי ('Adonay) – this is a generic term that can refer to a deferring master.
